Abstract EN:

The historical comprehension of le bon's path was made impossible by the fact that his role was reduced to the writing of a single book (the crowd,1895) and to that of a "pre-fascist" ideologist who rejected the enlightenment. In order to have access to this historical comprehension, one must take into account, not only the ideological aspects, but also those concerning social sensibility as well as the complex interplay of relationships which structured his activities in the publishing world. In a preliminary period ending around 1894, his social activity in the medical profession at first, then in the field of scientific publications enabled him to escape social destitution and anonymity. During that time, he built up a scientistic explanation of the world, mostly derived from embryology. From 1894, his growing success was due to three factors. 1) his vision of social relations corresponded to the perceptions prevailing at the turn of the century; the image of man in the crowd is both a threat and a foil to individual rationality reasserted as being fundamental in accordance with the enlightenment tradition. 2) the institutionalizing of regular meeting supporting his activities. 3) the management of the bibliotheque de philosophie scientifique, a successful collection including famous authors, which was established in 1902 by flammarion. Studying the insertion of his theories into three distinct social areas is a way of confirming their interpretation and of being specific about their range. His writings slowly lost some of their validity in the academic field. This los was due to his individualistic strategy and to his rigid reading of the world, more than to ideological oppositions. The interest he aroused in the highest ranks of the military before 1914 and in influential businessmen groups between 1900 and 1930 was genuine. Their interest lay mostly in his theories on education and not at all in a highly improbable plan by the elite to manipulate the masses