Q&A: Between the Individual and the Collective
Between the Individual and the Collective
Question
Why is the collective an independent entity rather than just the sum total of its individuals? Can’t one say that the collective is merely an emergent property that arises from its individual parts?
Answer
Yes, you can say that, and many people in fact do. But there is also another view. For example, the human body is a collective of cells or molecules (really also atoms and subatomic particles). Do you think that a human being is a fiction, and that in reality we are just a collection of subatomic particles?
True, with regard to a human being, seeing him as an entity is connected to the fact that there is a soul within him beyond the material whole. The soul turns this aggregate into something beyond the particulars that compose it. This, by the way, is one of the reasons people believe in the existence of a soul. The question is whether there is something like a soul for a nation (= the Divine Presence. In the language of the Sages there is an angel who is the minister of the nation, like the ministering angel of Esau and the like), or even for the world (= God).
Discussion on Answer
I don’t have an answer as to why. The question is what each person believes. Someone who thinks that a nation is an entity that exists independently probably also understands that it has a soul (or: a ministering angel). You apparently don’t believe that.
Still, any attempt to persuade? I have that kind of intuition, but I can’t clarify it or explain to myself why it is true, as I can with other things. On the issue of body and soul there are various arguments, and I believe what I found most convincing. But regarding the relationship between the individual and the nation, I don’t find arguments on the subject, only empty declarations. I’d be glad if you could give me a theological proof in Taylor’s style.
Can you at least give sources? All I want is to ground a basic intuition in the form of a logical argument.
I don’t have sources (I’m sure there are some, but I haven’t collected them because it doesn’t really interest me). I presented the arguments in the recorded series on the individual and the public; take them from there:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwJAdMjYRm7IMW9TSTJhWnFqS28
Yes, I understand that the question is also connected to the mind-body problem, but there I am convinced that there is an independent dimension of mind, soul, etc. (maybe because I experience it directly and also believe in free will).
But I don’t understand why one should make that leap and claim that nations also have a soul.