ANTH 410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Social Fact, Herd Mentality, Totem
Document Summary
For me durkheim"s concept of the collective conscience is easier to understand and: compare and contrast durkheim"s collective conscience with spencer"s organic analogy and kroeber"s concept of the superorganic. Be sure to consider the role of the individual in each concept. possibly even believe when compared to kroeber"s superorganic and spencer"s organic analogy. Kroeber is interested in the ephemera which exists outside of us and imposes upon us, people are part of the tide of culture. Spencer is talking about increasing complexity and working together like an organism. Can"t control the pattern of natural growth, concept of national will as imposed on leaders which society molds itself around but can"t be changed by individuals. To durkheim we are constrained by predetermined values that are placed upon us before we are born. Concept of moral maxims, things which are not formal laws but we all do anyway. Social facts are individual expressions of collective conscience.
