512 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1352 



It is the common ideals of its members that 

 make the nation. To Imow to what national 

 group an individual belongs the simplest way 

 is to ask him. 



The instinctive gregarious and sympathetic 

 reactions, the fear of group disapproval, these 

 give the constitutional basis, which explain 

 why there is any grouping at all. But it is 

 the acquisition of common ideals, within the 

 individual's own life, that gives the group its 

 persistent unity and determines its member- 

 ship. The nation as an ideal exists only in the 

 minds of its separate members, but when it 

 does exist it unites them for action. It be- 

 comes a common center of thought and emo- 

 tion, its prestige determines the conduct of the 

 individual in much the same way as does his 

 concept of his self. Although the social mind 

 is but a metaphor, the nation, as a concept, is 

 as real as is the self of the individual, and in 

 the same sense. But the original instincts, 

 the thoughts, the acts, are the instincts, 

 thoughts and acts of individuals, throughout, 

 and the ideals exist only in individual minds, 

 which are themselves always changing in 

 identity. 



The development of the nation as a common 

 ideal or concept is favored by, but does not 

 depend solely upon, such incidents as a com- 

 mon ancestry, language, literature, historical 

 continuity, a home land, and definite geo- 

 graphical boundaries. It is especially favored 

 by the urgencies of common danger and the 

 ensuing development of common hatreds of 

 opposing groups. A common hate is one of 

 the most frequently effective factors in ma- 

 king or uniting a nation or a smaller group 

 within the nation. Common fears and ani- 

 mosities in all wars, rather than mutual 

 sympathy and admiration, are what bind the 

 allies into a solid whole. ISTationality thrives 

 on opposition. 



Since nationality is acquired rather than 

 innate, its affiliations may under appropriate 

 conditions be changed and its loyalties shifted. 

 A chapter is given to the process of naturali- 

 zation, its conditions, aids, and objective signs. 

 In part the aids to naturalization and amalga- 

 mation are identical with those that led to the 



development of nations in history. Especially 

 useful are change of habits, language, stand- 

 ards of living. Effective also are the pressure 

 of contempt, group approval of those who 

 change, influence of children who adopt the 

 new ideals and scorn the old. Even race 

 prejudice is seen to play its part as an aid to 

 change in nationality. 



The development of the national ideals and 

 standards and the peculiarities of the ideals of 

 different nations are illustrated by sketches 

 of the rise of national spirit in the ancient and 

 modern states. Accounts of the nation as a 

 mob are critically examined and found in the 

 main false. For the most part the nation 

 thinks as does a sane individual in isolation, 

 and the final decisions usually attain the level 

 of the average intelligence. The results of this 

 thinking, the successful conventions and ap- 

 proved ideals, are embodied in the law, in 

 formal government, and the machinery of the 

 state. The relation of the state to the nation 

 is that the state embodies and provides a 

 means for realizing the ideals of the nation. 

 Naturally the means lags behind the ideals. 



Whether nationality represents the extreme 

 development of organization or whether it is 

 possible to go beyond and find a larger unity 

 in a community of states is considered in the 

 last chapter. Smaller group loyalties within 

 the nation are shown not to prevent but rather 

 to facilitate the growth of national spirit. So 

 might the rivalry of nations be made an ele- 

 ment in inciting to progress in the interna- 

 tional community. In no single respect does 

 the psychology of nationality offer any rea- 

 sonable objection to the formation of an in- 

 ternational society or League of Nations, 

 although the super-national state might have 

 to rely to greater degree on the more coopera- 

 tive instincts, in the absence of the thrilling 

 and amalgamating influence of a common 

 hate. 



This review can not hope to give an ade- 

 quate summary of the book, with its many 

 pertinent problems, its sane and reasonable 

 analysis of them, and its keen interpretation 

 of social phenomena always on the ground that 

 all psychology is of individuals. The failure 



