Collective belief

A collective belief is referred to when people speak of what 'we' believe when this is not simply elliptical for what 'we all' believe.

Sociologist Émile Durkheim wrote of collective beliefs and proposed that they, like all 'social facts', 'inhered in' social groups as opposed to individual persons. Durkheim's discussion of collective belief, though suggestive, is relatively obscure.

Philosopher Margaret Gilbert has offered a related account in terms of the joint commitment of a number of persons to accept a certain belief as a body. According to this account, individuals who together collectively believe something need not personally believe it themselves. Gilbert's work on the topic has stimulated a developing literature among philosophers. One question that has arisen is whether and how philosophical accounts of belief in general need to be sensitive to the possibility of collective belief.

See also

• Collective behavior

This sociology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Belief Philosophy stubs Sociology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу Droužkovice Max Mason Look at other dictionaries: Belief — is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. [Citation last = Schwitzgebel first = Eric editor last = Zalta editor first = Edward contribution = Belief title = The Stanford Encyclopedia of… …   Wikipedia Collective salvation — is the religious belief that members of a group collectively influence the salvation of the group to which they belong. Collective salvation can teach that the group is collectively one person by its nature.[1] The concept of collective salvation …   Wikipedia Collective depression — is one of many collective mental states, such as collective elation, collective paranoia, collective trauma, or collective grief, which may affect a group, community or whole nation. It is characterised by a prevailing and seemingly permanent… …   Wikipedia collective behaviour — ▪ psychology Introduction       the kinds of activities engaged in by sizable but loosely organized groups of people. Episodes of collective behaviour tend to be quite spontaneous, resulting from an experience shared by the members of the group… …   Universalium BELIEF — The Bible In the Bible there are no articles of faith or dogmas in the Christian or Islamic sense of the terms. Although trust in God is regarded as a paramount religious virtue (Gen. 15:6; Isa. 7:9; cf. Job 2:9), there is nowhere in Scripture an …   Encyclopedia of Judaism collective behaviour — Potentially a very wide ranging field of study which deals with the ways in which collective behaviours emerge as responses to problematic circumstances and situations. At one extreme this can mean the study of co ordinated and organized social… …   Dictionary of sociology Collective responsibility — Not to be confused with Collective guilt. For the British Parliamentary discipline, see Cabinet collective responsibility. For other types of responsibility, see Responsibility (disambiguation). Collective responsibility is a concept or doctrine …   Wikipedia belief —    This word (of Germanic origin, meaning what is dear or esteemed ) refers to a mental act or state of mind placing trust or confidence in a person or doctrine. Belief may also be used in a collective sense to indicate the body of doctrines held …   Glossary of theological terms Combahee River Collective — Contents 1 Beginnings in the NBFO 2 Naming the Collective 3 Developing the Statement …   Wikipedia Artist collective — See also Art colony; Artist cooperative; Artist run initiative“Collective” is a term taken over from usages in the ecclesiastical and political realms, and applied to the organization of labor. It is a materialist conception, rooted in production …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”