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other points, however, he would take pains to stress that norms, insofar as they exist, represent a
residue of inventions handed down from earlier periods. 30 The tradition of Spontaneity generally led
Tarde to stress the freedom of the individual and the degree to which norms were the creations of
social behavior as well as the causes.
Although we can point to a theoretical articulation between the five elements of the voluntaristic
action scheme and Tarde’s basic ideas, this does not, of course, imply that he made explicit use of
these categories. On the contrary, Tarde elaborated his thought largely through the imaginative
manipulation of three central concepts: invention, imitation, and opposition. Inventions, the creations
of talented individuals, are disseminated throughout social systems by the process of imitation. These
imitations spread—to use one of Tarde’s favorite analogies—like the ripples on the surface of a
pond, regularly progressing toward the limits of the system until they come into contact with some
obstacle. The obstacle, however, is likely to be the imitation of some earlier invention, and when the
two collide, from their opposition is likely to emerge a new product—that is, a new invention—
which in turn is imitated until it too meets further obstacles, and so on, ad infinitum. The three
processes thus form an interdependent whole, continuing to generate and influence one another in a
multitude of ways. Examining these three basic processes again and again, focusing on their operation
in personalities, in small groups, in the economy, in the polity, in international relations, and other
areas, Tarde distills a number of generalizations characterizing their operation. To these
generalizations he occasionally applied the term “law,” and, although recognizing that their tentative
character made the term “a slight misuse of vocabulary,” he pointed out that it nevertheless was a
misuse sanctioned by “the convenience of monosyllables.” 31
A basic principle that held for all three processes was the “law of progressive enlargement.” 32
This law held that as inventions are imitated throughout increasingly broad areas of social life, they
generate correspondingly increasing numbers of oppositions, which in turn create increasing numbers
of subsequent inventions. The limits of a particular system do not necessarily restrict the operation of
these processes, as most imitations are likely to collide with innumerable others before they reach the
system’s limits and to be redirected from these collisions toward further innovations and imitations.
Invention.—As each of the three processes leads to the next, the analysis of the overall circular
pattern may logically begin with any one of the three. Invention, as the ultimate source of all human
innovation and progress for Tarde, is a convenient point of departure. The rate of development of a
particular sector of society—for example, the economy, science, literature—depends on the number
and quality of innovative ideas generated in that sector, and as a society as a whole advances with the
developments in its many sectors, the creation of significant inventions is of greatest importance for
vigorous social change. Despite the central social role played in his system by invention, and the
continual attention it received in his works, Tarde admitted that his formulations on the subject never
attained the precision of those on imitation—the process for which he developed the most elaborate
explanatory principles. This was in part because of the paucity of literature on invention in contrast to
that relevant to imitation; correspondingly, Tarde’s own work significantly advanced the level of
thinking on the social foundations of invention. 33
The ultimate source for all invention is found in creative associations originating in the minds of
gifted individuals. 34 Limits are placed ultimately on the inventive abilities of a social sector or a total
society by the intellectual capacities—biological and psychological—of its members. Citing Galton’s
Hereditary Genius, Tarde stressed the importance of a few highly gifted individuals for the
development of inventions in a particular area. He generally emphasized the rational and conscious