io6
NINETEENTH
CENTURY
PSYCHOLOGY
T he need became apparent for a genetic and social psychology, which would reveal the state of the indi vidual mind in given social conditions; the relation, that is, between individual and collective “ representa tion ,” to extend som ew hat the phraseology of the French writers referred to in the discussion of primitive th o u g h t.1 P u t in Kantian form, the question of social psy chology is this : H o w is a social subject or self possible? Is he a socialised individual self, or is he an individual ised social self? T h e outcome of social psychology until now points plainly to a n egative answer to the first, and a positive answ er to the second, of these questions. It thus reverses the point of v ie w of his torical individualism, and g iv e s collectivism its point d ’appui in the processes of mental development itself. T h e larger results upon which this verdict is based m ay be stated in order; in this w a y the present status and program m e of social psychology will be brought out. (i) T h e matter of “ tr a d itio n ” has been cleared up. It has already been pointed out that a true social heredity is to be recognised a m on g animals, running parallel to physical heredity and supplementing it. In human gro u p s this is enormously developed in w h a t we call “ culture,” a body of beliefs, usages, and sanctions transmitted entirely by social means, and administered to g r o w in g individuals by example, precept, and dis cipline.2 Th is constitutes the social store, the collective 1 C h a p t e r II. o f V o l. I . 2 In c e r ta in e x tr e m e s t a te m e n ts o f th is v ie w , s o c i e t y is m a d e a n o r g a n o f c o n s tr a in t, a s o r t o f n e w L e v ia t h a n , b y w h ic h in d iv id u a lity a s su ch is c r u s h e d ou t. S e e D u r k h e im , Le Suicide, a n d c f. M a u d s le y , Physiology a n d Pathology of M in d .