Mimesis, law, struggle. A contribution to social ontology

In this text, I begin from a brief presentation of Edith Stein's neglected theory of collective identity in contemporary social ontology, in order to, building on and resisting her conclusions, elaborate a new differentiation of various forms of collective identity. The thesis is that there are only three basic forms of communal living and action which have a feeling of collective belonging and solidarity, that is, collective identity: the masses, associations (corporations) and communities. I go on to further develop their respective particularities through the use of the terms of mimesis, (established) law and struggle, and by using certain insights from Hegel regarding the nature of “objective spirit”