Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War

by W. Trotter

Throughout the enormously long period during which modern man has been established on the earth human society has been left to the uncontrolled contention of constructive and destructive forces, and in the long run the destructive have always proved the stronger. Whether the general level of consciousness will reach the height necessary to give a decisive predominance to constructive tendencies, and whether such a development will occur in time to save Western civilization from the fate of its predecessors, are open questions. The small segment of the social process of which we have direct knowledge in the events of the day has no very encouraging appearance. Segregation has reasserted itself effectively; the dominion of the stable and resistive mind is as firmly established as ever, and no less dull and dangerous; while it is plain how far, in the atmosphere of relaxation and fatigue, the social inspiration of the common man has sunk from the high constancy of spirit by which throughout the long pilgrimage of war so many weary feet have been upborne, so many dry lips refreshed.

• INDEX
  • AFFIRMATIONS of the herd, belief in normal, [39]
  • AGE and the herd instinct, [86]
    • ——, the predominance of, [87]
  • AGE AND YOUTH, jealousy between, [86]
    • ——, reactions of, in relation to sex, [84], [85]
  • ALCOHOLISM, psychological meaning of, [58]
  • ALTRUISM, instinctive meaning of, [122]–[124]
    • ——, a natural instinctive product, [46]
    • ——, not a judgment, [46]
    • ——, energy of, [47]
  • ANARCHISM, psychological basis of, [253]
  • ANTHROPOMORPHISM in psychology, [14]
  • BEER, and comparative psychology, [14]
  • BELIEF, non-rational and rational, distinction of, [43], [44]
    • ——, characters of, [44]
  • BETHE, and comparative psychology, [14]
  • BINET, [34]
  • BREEDING against degeneracy, objections to, [64]
    • —— for rationality, objections to, [45]
  • CAT AND DOG, instinctive differences in feeling, [98]
  • CERTITUDE and knowledge, [35]
  • CHURCH, the, in wartime, [154]
  • CIVILIZATION, its influence on instinct in man, [93]
  • CIVILIZATIONS, the decline of, [241], [242]
  • COMMUNISM, psychological basis of, [254]
  • CONFLICT in the adult, superficial aspects of, [52], [53]
    • —— in childhood and adolescence, [49]
    • —— in civilized man, [49]
  • CONSCIENCE, peculiar to gre­gar­i­ous animals, [40]
  • CONVERSATION as a mode of recognition, [119]
  • DARWINISM as a herd affirmation, [39]
  • DEDUCTIVE METHOD in psychology, [14]
  • DUTY, [48]
  • ENGLAND, social type, [201], [202]
    • ——, morale of, [207]–[209]
    • ——, and the spirit of the hive, [203]–[206]
  • ENVIRONMENT OF THE MIND, importance of, [63]
    • ——, need for rational adjustment of, [64]
  • FREUD’S PSYCHOLOGY, general discussion of, [76]
    • ——, as an embryology of the mind, [88]
    • ——, biological criticism of, [77], [78]
    • ——, evolution of the “normal” mind, [73]
    • ——, hypothesis of mental development, [72]
    • ——, importance of conflict, [72]
    • ——, nature of mental conflict, [73]
    • ——, suggested deficiencies of, [88], [89]
    • ——, the unconscious, [74]
  • GERMANY, features of government, [163]–[165]
    • ——, aggressive social type, [167], [168]
    • ——, social structure, [169], [170]
    • ——, observed mental characters, [173] et seq.
    • ——, conscious direction of the State, [163], [169], [191]
    • ——, in relation to other nations, [179]–[182]
    • ——, morale of, [182]–[188]
    • ——, discipline, [189]–[191]
    • ——, conditions of morale in, [193], [194]
    • ——, objects of war with, [194]–[201]
  • GOVERNMENT, Sources of, [257]
  • GREGARIOUSNESS, not a superficial character, [19]
    • ——, widespread occurrence in nature, [20]
    • —— in man, probably primitive, [22]
    • ——, mental equivalents of, [31]–[33]
    • ——, biological meaning of, [101], [102]
    • ——, analogy to multicellular structure, [103]
    • ——, meaning of wide distribution of, [103], [104]
    • ——, specialization and co-ordination, [105], [106]
    • ——, varieties of, [107], [108]
    • ——, in insects, [105]–[107]
    • ——, in mammals, [107], [108]
    • ——, protective and aggressive, [110], [111]
    • —— in man, disadvantages of:
      • disease, [133];
      • resistiveness, [133]
    • —— in man, defects
      • of specialization, [135];
      • of homogeneity, [137]
    • ——, aggressive, protective, socialized, [166], [167]
  • GREGARIOUS ANIMAL, special char­ac­ter­is­tics of, [28]
    • ——, general char­ac­ter­is­tics of, [29]
    • ——, characters of, [108], [109]
    • ——, fear in, [111]
  • GREGARIOUS CHARACTERS IN MAN:
    • intolerance of solitude, [113];
    • religion, [113];
    • sensitiveness to the herd, [114];
    • mob violence and panic, [115];
    • susceptibility to leadership, [115];
    • recognition by the herd, [118]
  • HAECKEL, [24]
  • HERD INSTINCT, contrasted with other instincts, [47]
    • ——, mode of action of, [48]
    • —— in the individual, special character of, [98]
  • HISTORY, biological interpretation of, [99], [100]
  • HUMAN CONDUCT, apparent complexity of, [13], [14]
  • HUXLEY, antithesis of cosmical and ethical processes, [24]
  • INSTINCT, definition of, [94]
    • ——, mental manifestations of, [95]
    • ——, disguised but not diminished in man, [99]
  • INSTINCTIVE ACTIVITIES, obscured in proportion to brain-power, [97]
  • INSTINCTIVE EXPRESSION, essential to mental health, [244], [245]
  • INTELLECT, the, essential function of, [243]
    • ——, biological aspect of, [255]
  • JAMES, WILLIAM, introspective aspect of instinct, [15]
  • LEADERSHIP, [116], [117]
    • —— in society, [246]
    • —— a substitute for common impulse, [247]
    • ——, defects of, [247]
    • —— in Germany and in England, [248]–[250]
  • LE BON, GUSTAVE, [26]
  • MAN as an animal, a fundamental conception, [66], [67], [243]
    • —— as a gre­gar­i­ous animal, vagueness of earlier conceptions, [21]
    • —— as an instinctive animal, current view of, [93]
  • MENTAL CAPACITY and instinctive expression, [121]
  • MENTAL CONFLICT, discussed in relation to Freud’s doctrines, [79]–[81]
    • ——, the antagonism to instinctive impulses, [82]
  • MENTAL CONFLICT, source of the repressive impulse in, [82], [83]
  • MENTAL INSTABILITY, and conflict, [57]
    • ——, in modern society, [56], [57]
  • MINORITIES and prejudice, [216], [217]
  • MORALE, in England, [207]–[209]
    • ——, in Germany, [182]–[188]
    • ——, maintenance of, [147]–[155]
    • ——, relation of homogeneity to, [144]–[147]
    • —— and officialism, [155]
  • MULTICELLULARITY and natural selection, [18]
  • MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS, the, [18]
  • NATIONAL consciousness, [228]
    • ——, simplicity of, in England, [228]
  • NATIONAL feeling in war, [216]–[218]
    • ——, growth and common impulse, [245], [246]
  • NATIONAL industry and private enterprise, [257]
  • NATIONAL types contrasted, [232]
  • NON-RATIONAL OPINION, frequency of, [35], [36], [93], [94]
  • “NORMAL” type of mind, [53], [54]
  • NUEL and comparative psychology, [14]
  • PACIFISM, [125]
  • PEARSON, KARL, biological significance of gre­gar­i­ous­ness, [23], [24]
    • ——, possibility of sociology as a science, [12]
  • PERSONALITY, elements in the evolution of, [87]
  • PREJUDICE, precautions against, [220]–[222]
  • PRIMITIVE MAN, rigidity of mental life, [34]
  • PSYCHO-ANALYSIS, char­ac­ter­is­tics of, [70], [71]
  • PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY, biological method, [91], [92]
    • ——, primitive introspective method, [68], [69]
    • ——, objective introspective method of Freud, [70]
  • PSYCHOLOGY of instinctive man, failure of earlier speculations, [16]
  • RATIONALIZATION, [38]
  • RATIONAL statecraft, need of, [241], [251]
    • ——, basis of, [252], [253]
  • RECOGNITION, [118], [119]
  • RELIGION and the social animal, [50], [51]
  • SEGREGATION of society, effects of, [215]
  • SENSITIVENESS to feeling, importance and danger of, [64]
  • SIDIS, BORIS, and the social instinct in man, [26], [27]
  • SOCIAL EVOLUTION, in insects, relation to brain-power, [62]
    • ——, in man, delayed by capacity for reaction, [62]
  • SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, continuous with individual psychology, [12]
  • SOCIAL stability, an effect of war, [235], [236]
  • SOCIAL instability, a sequel of war, [236], [237]
  • SOCIOLOGY, definition of, [11]
    • ——, psychological principles of, [255]
  • SOLITARY AND GREGARIOUS ANIMALS, elementary differences, [17]
  • SOMBART, WERNER, Germans the representatives of God, [177]
  • SPEECH in man, and gre­gar­i­ous­ness, [34], [40]
  • SPENCER, [24]
  • STABLE-MINDED type, [54], [55]
  • SUGGESTION and reason not necessarily opposed, [45]
  • UEXKÜLL and comparative psychology, [14]
  • UNSTABLE-MINDED type, [58], [59]
  • VARIED REACTION and capacity for communication, importance to the herd of, [61]
  • WAR, instinctive reactions to, [140]–[143]
    • —— and rumour, [144]
    • —— as a biological necessity, [126]–[132]
  • WARD, LESTER, views on gre­gar­i­ous­ness in man, [24], [25]
  • WELLS, H. G., impossibility of sociology as a science, [12]
  • WOLF PACK, the, as an organism, [29]

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

• Original spelling and grammar have been generally retained, with some exceptions noted below. Original printed page numbers are shown like this: {52}. Footnotes have been relabeled 1–23, and moved from within paragraphs to nearby locations between paragraphs. A few full stops and commas were added where they were required but were not clearly visible in the original print. The transcriber produced the cover image and hereby assigns it to the public domain. Original page images are available from archive.org—search for "instinctsofherdi00trot".
• Page [239]. The phrase “but it is must be remembered” was changed to “but it must be remembered”.
• Page [264]. Index entry “UEXKULL” was changed to “UEXKÜLL” to agree with the text on page [14].