ABSTRACT
The concept of the human mind that is postulated by the theory of collective self-consciousness may be contrasted with the conception of the mind in the theory of rational choice. Only the individual participants in the collective self-consciousness can act as members of the collectivity; they act under the normative guidance that they receive as participants of their collective self-consciousness. The theory of the collective self-consciousness postulates a multiplicity of spheres of life and their corresponding values. Methodological individualism must be observed; but it is important, at the same time, to acknowledge its limitations: collectivity, the collective self and collective self-consciousness all have distinctive reality. The knowledge of the sociologist or anthropologist is a knowledge formed from the collective self-consciousness of numerous human beings. Even for the study of ancient or medieval Chinese societies, a Western scholar must acquire some of the collective self-consciousness of that society.
