The Crowd

The nature of crowds has long been a topic of interest in philosophy. However, the 18th and 19th centuries were a time when an increased emphasis was placed on understanding the psychology of crowds. For example, the 18th century philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau proclaimed that "...we have a very imperfect knowledge of the human heart if we do not also examine it in crowds."Gustave Le Bon a French social psychologist, is often seen as the father of the study of crowd psychology. Le Bon believed an understanding of crowd psychology was essential for a proper understating of the both history and the nature of man. As he wrote in his classic and highly influential work The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind: