society has thought to be

[tanencas]

Dear all,
The following sentence bothers me :
"what society has thought to be its greatest social, political, and individual achievements have often resulted in the greatest discontent"

I don't get that how can society "think"? Or I misunderstand the meaning.
Please explains this for me. Thank you very much ^^

[David L.]

'society' refers to the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. Hence, 'what society thinks' means 'the consensus of opinion among the members of that society'.