The intuitive starting point of the book is the distinction between thinking and acting as a private person versus as a group member. People may view things from their own personal viewpoint and base their thinking and acting on this “I-perspective”. They can then be said to operate as private persons, in the I-mode, even when they are engaged in social action with others. Alternatively, they may adopt the perspective of their social group and view things from a full “we-perspective”, that is, from the group's point of view that is constituted and shared by its members. Then they can be said t ... More

The intuitive starting point of the book is the distinction between thinking and acting as a private person versus as a group member. People may view things from their own personal viewpoint and base their thinking and acting on this “I-perspective”. They can then be said to operate as private persons, in the I-mode, even when they are engaged in social action with others. Alternatively, they may adopt the perspective of their social group and view things from a full “we-perspective”, that is, from the group's point of view that is constituted and shared by its members. Then they can be said to operate in the we-mode. The most central thesis of the book is that collective intentionality is an essential ingredient in sociality and that especially we-mode collective intentionality is important. Social life and social institutions cannot be properly understood or explained in terms of I-mode concepts only, and in certain respects the we-mode can even be seen as primary when compared to the I-mode.