The person to state 'society not only transcends the individual but transcends the physical. Societies are large collective nonphysical entities' was Emile Durkheim.
Explanation:
Emile Durkheim, the pioneering sociologist who is regarded as the father of modern sociology, believed that societies can be viewed as entities in which the development of numerous human activities, relationships, and understandings (referring to inventions and discoveries) takes place.
He proposed that societies not only achieve the boundlessness of individuality but also the physical form in order to expand itself in many ways.