<論文>戦間期ドイツにおける世論研究の試み : テンニース『世論批判』の再検討

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the concept of public opinion through Kritik der offentliche Meinung (Criticism on public opinion) published in 1922 by Ferdinand Tonnies. Although he is well known as the author of Gemainschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Association), his other books are not regarded anything important today. Kritik is sometimes referred to by scholars of mass communication, but the attractive points of the book are still unfamiliar and the citations tend to be highly fragmentary. His concern about public opinion, which culminated in Kritik, was already initiated as early as 1887 when he write GuG. So I will begin with the role of public opinion to which he assigned in his theory of GuG. Then I explain contents of Kritik, some concepts differentiating public opinion, and especially his thought about the relation between World War I and public opinion. It is very important to know how the scholar of those days thought about the relation. In conclusion I want to show the contribution and possibility involved in his theory in spite of any weaknesses.