Rev: Mead

George Herbert Mead is a major figure in the history of American philosophy, one of the founders of pragmatism along with Peirce, James, Tufts, & Dewey

Mead never published a book & so his students produced four books in his name from his unpublished (& even unfinished) notes & manuscripts, from students' notes, & from stenographic records of some of his courses at the University of Chicago

Mead's theory of the emergence of mind & self out of the social process of significant communication has become the foundation of the symbolic interactionist school of sociology & social psych

Mead's thought includes significant contributions to social phil, the phil of nature, the phil of science, phil anthropology, the phil of history, and process phil

Both John Dewey & Alfred North Whitehead considered Mead a thinker of the highest order

THE SELF EMERGES AS A RESULT OF INTERACTION W/ THE ENV & OTHERS

Mead is the most important thinker of the Chicago School & of symbolic interactionism

Mead taught that people & their environment created the unity of the individual

Mead emphasized the natural emergence of self & mind w/in the social order

Mead analyzes experience from the standpoint of communication as essential to the social order

The development of the individual's self, & of his self consciousness w/in the field of his experience is preeminently social

For Mead, the social process is prior to the structures & processes of individual experience

For Mead, the emergence of self & mind comes about as a result of interaction w/ the environment & other beings

The self emerges from social experience & this social experience is based on the exchange of symbols

THE "I" & THE "ME" REPRESENT THE INSTINCTUAL & SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE SELF

When fully developed, the self is composed of the "I" & the "me"

The I is the self as subject & the me is the self as object

See Also: Mead on the Genesis of the Self

WHILE BEHAVIORISTS' VIEW OF SOC INTERACTION WAS MECHANICAL, MEAD ADDED PEOPLE'S UNDERSTANDING / CONSCIOUSNESS

Individual psychology, for Mead, is intelligible only in terms of social processes

Mead's work must be contrasted against psychological behaviorism

Mead accepted may of the tenets of psychological behaviorism, but also rejected many others

Mead adopted the focus on the actor & his/her behavior

Mead accepted behaviorism's focus on observable behavior, rewards, & punishments

Mead & Cooley did not accept the behaviorists insistence on excluding any examination of the consciousness of the Actor

The term symbolic interactions was not used during Mead's life, but his work on consciousness & Simmel's interest in action & interaction served as the foundation for that school

MEAD & LEWIN WERE IMPORTANT INFLUENCES ON SOCIAL PSYC W/ CORE IDEA THAT MEANING IS DEVELOPED VIA SOC INTERACTION

Two major influences on social psychology were the work of George Herbert Mead & Lewin, Kurt (1890-1947)

Mead, an American psychologist & philosopher, argued that people's ideas about themselves are developed through social contact

Lewin, a German born psychologist, investigated how individuals in groups are affected by other members

Both Mead & Lewin claimed that behavior depends primarily on how people interpret the social world

The work of these early researchers continues to influence social psychologists, who study people's perception of themselves & others

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George Herbert Mead 1863 - 1931

American pragmatist, philosopher, & social psychologist
b South Hadley, MA
Educated at Oberlin College, Harvard University, & in Europe
Taught at the University of Chicago from 1894 - 1931
Influenced by theory of evolution & the social nature of experience & behavior
At the U of Chicago in the 1920's, Mead worked w/ colleagues
Charles H. Cooley, W. I. Thomas, and others to develop field of Symbolic Interactionism

Timeline on Mead: The Mead Project, Dept of Soc, Brock U, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 Link

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Major Works of Mead

Mead published very little. His students compiled his work
Mind, Self and Society. 1934, 1962.
Twenty five of Mead's most notable published articles have been collected in Selected Writings: George Herbert Mead, edited by Andrew J. Reck (Bobbs Merrill, The Liberal Arts Press, 1964
Mead's published papers are the following:

Suggestions Towards a Theory of the Philosophical Disciplines,1900
Social Consciousness and the Consciousness of Meaning, 1910
What Social Objects Must Psychology Presuppose, 1910
The Mechanism of Social Consciousness, 1912
The Social Self, 1913
Scientific Method and the Individual Thinker, 1917 A Behavioristic Account of the Significant Symbol, 1922
The Genesis of Self and Social Control, 1925
The Objective Reality of Perspectives, 1926
The Nature of the Past, 1929
The Philosophies of Royce, James, and Dewey in Their American Setting, 1929

External
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Outline on Mead on the Genesis of the Self 1863 - 1931

External
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- Project: Play at Playing

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- Project: The Generalized Other & Ethical Dilemmas

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- Video: Cooley & Mead

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Mead worked in the paradigm of symbolic interactionism & is generally viewed as one of its founders

The genesis of the self is accomplished through socialization & goes through FOUR stages

Self is composed of TWO components: the I & the me

The I is the spontaneous, unsocialized, unpredictable self has awareness of a separate identity

The me is the socialized part of individual
The I continues to exist
The self develops attitudes, behavior, & beliefs in order to fit in to society
( Compare to Freud )

For Mead, there are FOUR stages in the development of the self, including
- the tabula rasa stage
- the imitative stage
- the play stage
- the game stage

1. Tabula Rasa Stage: circa birth

Tabula rasa means blank slate

the concept of the tabula rasa denotes that people are born without certain predispositions to develop any particular type of personality

During the tabula rasa stage a baby can only do simple imitation

Only the I exists

We believe that babies believe that only they exist. The world is under their control

During the tabula rasa stage, we have little or no identity

2. Imitative stage: circa birth to 2 yrs.

During the imitative stage, we can only imitate others, especially significant others (SO), but the me begins existence

For Mead the concept significant other denotes people w/ whom one has a regular, face to face, emotional connection

The I continues to exist

In the me, the individual carries society w/ them

Child can copy/imitate and plays imitation games

3. Play stage: circa 2 to 4 yrs.

In the play stage, the child can take on roles of others, especially SOs

The me is more developed

Socialization begins through interaction w/ the SO

The Socialization that is achieved through the interaction w/ the SO:
- establishes sense of self, that is, a distinct identity & an awareness of that identity
- others are seen as having a separate identity
- learn social norms from (a) messages & (b) role models
(SOs from whom child learns to play a role)
- child wants to play 'real games,' but only w/ his or her flexible rules

During the play stage, we develop a sense of identity

4. Game Stage circa 5 yrs. & older

In the game stage, a child can take on the complex roles of generalized others (GO)

The generalized other is the classes of people w/ whom a person interacts on the basis of generalized roles rather than on individual characteristics

The GO is interaction based on general roles of that individual rather than on specific traits

The GO represents actual games; the rules, standards of performance or the attitude of entire community

According to Mead, children at the game stage learn that certain positions are occupied by a variety of people & that people in similar social positions frequently behave alike

Children in turn are expected to behave in particular ways toward people w/ particular social positions

The me has gained all of it's capabilities, but still needs more socialization/knowledge

The child moves beyond interacting w/ particular individuals & interacts w/ roles

The child moves from interacting w/ SOs to interacting w/ generalized others

At the game stage, the child has generalized from the behavior and expectations of particular individuals to those of anyone playing various roles that relate to whatever role the child is playing at the time

The child has gone from interacting with SOs to a new and higher stage of interacting w/ the GO

Games are a metaphor for all organized activity: family, work, etc.

In the game stage, one plays actual games & is truly concerned about rules, performance

In the game stage, the child wants to appear grown-up

In the game stage, one becomes concerned w/ the attitude of the entire community

During the game stage, a person is expected to behave in particular ways toward people w/ particular social positions

According to Mead, children at the game stage learn that different people behave differently, & that different people also expect children to behave in different ways

Children do not yet really understand that how they are expected to behave toward people

In the game stage, the self evaluates the self from the point of view of GOs & not merely from point of view of discrete others

The evaluation of the self from the point of view of the GOs is the capacity for abstract thinking, objectivity, & morality

While play requires only pieces of selves, games require a coherent self

The self allows the individual to be a more efficient member of the society and offers greater coordination of society

But the self is not a conformist robot because each self has a unique biographical make-up which shapes the self

People have multiple Generalized Others & Selves which provide them w/ an internal dialogue/debate that allows for moral reasoning

People can only react against society by setting up a higher sort of society which “out-votes” the one they find

To set up a 'higher society,' people must encounter the society of the past, present & future

For Mead, institutions, social structures, etc. are common responses of the community

The community often acts in an identical way to people

Institutions need not destroy or oppress the individual; in fact, many are flexible, progressive & foster individuality

Education is the process where the common habits of the community are internalized

Mead said, "The self, as that which can be an object to itself, is essentially a social structure, & it arises in social experience… it is impossible to conceive of a self arising outside of social experience” .

Mead's statement that the self is a social structure that arises in experience indicates that he thought nurture was the primary source of human behavior

Internal
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Outline on an Advanced Examination of the Genesis of the Self

External
Links

- Project: Play at Playing

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- Project: The Generalized Other & Ethical Dilemmas

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THE GENESIS OF THE SELF DEPICTS HOW THE SELF ARISES FROM SOCIAL EXPERIENCE

W/o socialization, we lack language, culture, abstract thought, & a concept of the self

The self arises in the the process of social experience & activity

The individual is the result of its relationship to others & to the socialization experience

IN THE IMITATIVE STAGE WE COPY OTHERS & JUDGE OUR ABILITY TO COPY & THUS BECOME AN OBJECT TO OURSELF

The self begins the process of socialization only by first becoming an object to itself

We do not first become a subject to ourself

Fully mature, "sophisticated," self actualized people gain an understanding that they are simultaneously both objects & subjects to themselves, and treat others according, in situation-, moral- specific contexts

We become an object to ourself by taking the attitudes of others on us w/in a social environment

The self, as an object to itself, is a social structure that arises in social experience

Social structures are patterns of behavior that have been institutionalized; i.e. widely accepted, & taken for granted by people everywhere

The self is a social structure in that each person develops a personality of regular behaviors & attitudes that the self & others accept & take for granted

A social experience is the relation that we have w/ others in a social environment

The person comes to carry on a conversation of gesture w/ themself

A person say something that elicits a certain reply in themself, which makes them change what they were going to say

We respond to ourself as another would respond by taking part in our own conversation w/ others, being aware of what we say & using that awareness of what we say to determine what we will say thereafter

All children have imaginary companions

A child's imaginary companion is only a problem when a child keeps & develops a permanent relationship w/ the "friend"

Through the imaginary communication, kids organize the responses that they call out in others & in themselves

THE PLAY STAGE

PLAYING AT BEING IS HOW CHILDREN TAKE ON / EXPERIMENT W/ INNUMERABLE ROLES & INTEGRATE THEM INTO THE SELF

Play is playing at being someone or something: a mother, teacher, a monster, a truck, etc.

Even dogs play at being something such as chase dog or chased dog

Through the playing at being someone, kids organize the responses they call out in others & in themselves

When a child takes on a role, this is calling out the set of responses that go w/ that role, both in:
- performing the role
- the reaction of others to the role
- their reaction to the reaction of the others

A child uses some of the responses to the role to develop the self

Actors integrate aspects of many roles into our self

A child offers herself something & buys it, gives a letter to herself & takes it away, addresses herself as a parent, then takes on the role of child, addresses herself as a teacher, then takes on role of student, arrests herself as a policeman

ROLE PLAYING IS THE ORGANIZATION OF SETS OF STIMULI & RESPONSES INTO PARTICULAR ROLES & CONTEXTS

A child has a set of stimuli which create a set of responses

A child takes set of responses & organizes them into a certain whole

A child says something in one character & responds in another character then the responding character is a stimulus to the 1st character

In play, child make rules on the spot to get the self out of a jam

Part of the fun of play is developing rules

Part of the fun of a game is knowing / using the existing rules

IN THE GAME STAGE, A CHILD IS CAPABLE OF TAKING ON THE ROLE OF EVERYONE IN THE GAME AS WELL AS THE 'GENERALIZED OTHER' WHO WATCHES / JUDGES PERFORMANCE

In play a child takes on a few roles while in a game, a child must be able to take on role of everyone else in the game or else the child does not understand the game

In play, the child passes from role to role based on whim, while in a game roles change as dictated by rules of game, by the social organization of the game

Example: Baseball

In baseball, one must understand roles of all other players

In a game, there is a set of responses that creates appropriate responses in others which creates responses in the self, etc. until the game ends

Mead said, "The game represents the passage in the life of the child from taking the role of others in play to the organized part that is essential to self consciousness in the full sense of the term."

The generalized other ( GO ) is the organized community or social group which gives unity of self to the person

In baseball, the team is the GO

In abstract thought, we take the attitude of the GO to ourself w/o referring to any particular other person

In concrete thought we imagine how specific others will react to us

ONLY BY TAKING THE ROLE OF THE GO CAN WE THINK

Only by taking role of GO can we think in adult manner

It is w/ the GO that we have internalized conversation of gestures which constitute thought

Only through taking attitude of specific others or the GO is the existence of a universe of discourse possible

The universe of discourse includes all of the possible roles, acts, gestures by all people in a given culture

The attitudes which are common to the group, the GO, make up the organized self

We all have something in common: the attitudes of the GO or society

SOCIETAL CONTROL OF THE PERSON IS EXERCISED BY THE COMMUNITY

Like Durkheim, Mead believes that the community (society) exercises control over conduct of individual

The community exercises control through our internalized GO

	PERSONALITY DEVELOPS IN A COMMUNITY FROM WHICH WE ADAPT ROLES & FRAME A GO
	We have personality because we belong to a community
	We take the institutions of that community into account in our own conduct
	In the development of a personality, we take:
	- on language, a style of language that is the language of our community
	- the roles available to us in the community
	- the attitudes of members in the community
	The attitudes of the members of the community are what we might call our principles or values
	We put ourselves in the place of the GO which represents the organized responses of all the members of the group
	ETHICS & MORALITY ARE A FUNCTION OF THE GO / COMMUNITY IN THAT WE THINK BEYOND OUR INTERESTS TO THE INTERESTS OF THE GO / COMMUNITY
	The only way we react against the disapproval of entire the community is by setting up a higher sort of community which, in a certain sense, out votes the one we find ourself in
	A person may find themself going against whole world & to do that they have to speak w/ the voice of reason, & to comprehend the voices of the past & future
	To go against our community, we may also think ourself insane
	To go against our community, we may refer to the highest community: god
	Usually we assume the voice of the community is identical w/ the voice of past & future
	AS W/ THE GO, WE CONSIDER THE POSITION OF THE COMMUNITY & IN MORAL DILEMMAS, WE OFTEN EXPECT / HOPE IT WILL CHANGE
	We imagine what the GO or community will say to us
	We respond to that
	We may expect the community to change or alter it's morality
	We can reform the order of things
	We are not simply bound by the community
	We are engaged in a conversation w/ the community
	We all "have our day in court" when we respond to the community & hope that it will respond favorably to us
	Thus the individual has not only the right to engage in a conversation w/ the community, but also has a duty to do so
	The symbolic interatctionists concept of the right to converse is similar to the issues surrounding Habermas' communicative action and discourse
	For some symbolic interatctionists & Habermas, there is a duty to bring about those changes that we believe are needed
	Examples: Against the World Galileo: before the Inquisition Columbus: before the Queen Person: should I fight (back)?

External
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Outline on Mead on Mental Processes 1863 - 1931

External
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- Project: Mental Processes

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THE SELF IS A PROCESS WHICH ARISES THROUGH SOCIAL ACTIVITY & RELATIONS

"The self, as that which can be an object to itself, is essentially a social structure, & it arises in social experience… it is impossible to conceive of a self arising outside of social experience."

The self has the ability to take oneself as an object and thus the self can be both subject & object

The self presupposes the social process of communication

The self develops through social activity & social relations

The self is reflexive in that when responding to another, that response is heard by the self & responds to the self, as well as to the other

The self talks & replies as another would

The self has the ability to unconsciously put itself in the place of another and examine itself

We must be able to get outside of ourselves to evaluate our self

To act rationally we must be able to put the self in the same experiential field as we put everyone else: we must be able to take ourselves & others into account

But we cannot experience ourself directly, so we must take the roles of others

OUR VERY MIND ARISES W/IN SOCIETY

As we see from the process of socialization, the mind arises w/in society

For Mead, society comes first, then the mind

W/o society, life as we know it could not exist

Society & mind are a dualism

For Mead, a micro orientation means that we explain the behavior of a group at that level and not in the terms of a sum of the acts of individuals

The act is the most "primitive" or basic unit for Mead

The act has 4 interdependent, simultaneous stages including the impulse, the perception, the manipulation, & consummation

An act involves one person while a social act involves two or more people

Mead is somewhat of a behaviorist or pragmatist in that while he studied the mind, he insisted on a focus on observable, verifiable facts

THERE ARE FOUR STAGES IN THE CREATION OF A THOUGHT / ACTION, INCLUDING: IMPULSE, PERCEPTION, MANIPULATION, CONSUMATION

1. THE IMPULSE IS THE FEELING / EMOTION WE EXPERIENCE AS A RESULT OF EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL STIMULI

The impulse is the reaction to an immediate sensuous stimulation (stimulus) which may be external, internal or combination of both

The impulse is similar to emotion, or a lesser form of a psychological drive

An example of boredom as an impulse is to see others having fun & feel bored, or just to have the feeling arise independently or some both combination of external & internal cues

For Mead, the impulse is shaped by our social definitions of it: inappropriate to be bored at a party

2. THE PERCEPTION IS THE SEARCH FOR & REACTION TO STIMULI RELATED TO AN IMPULSE

We perceive both external stimuli as well as the mental images we create

We actively select among stimuli

Stimuli may have several dimensions and we choose one set

Perception & the object of perception are interdependently related

3. MANIPULATION IS ACTION OR THOUGHT BASED ACTIVITY AS A RESULT ON AN IMPULSE & PERCEPTION

Manipulation is action or thought based activity as a result of an impulse & perception

When we manipulate the object, we take action in relation to it

Manipulation is a pause to contemplate various responses

Animals don't generally manipulate

	4. CONSUMMATION IS THE TAKING OF AN ACTION WHICH SATISFIES THE IMPULSE
	Mead does not consider the consequences of no consummation or w/ dissatisfaction w/ the consummation
	Gestures are movements which are specific stimuli calling forth socially appropriate responses
	Non significant gestures are unconscious, instinctive actions
	Significant gestures are gestures which require thought
	For Mead, humans do both non significant & significant gestures while animals do only the former
	Animal psychologists today would disagree w/ Mead because of their observations that dogs, cats, simians, dolphins, et al engage in play & appear to demonstrate other emotions & human traits
	Language is vocalized significant gestures
	Language & all social gestures stimulate speakers & listeners similarly
	Physical gestures primarily are unconscious & so primarily affect others
	SIGNIFICANT SYMBOLS ARE THE SYMBOLISM THAT IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO HIGHER ANIMALS
	Significant symbols allow communication, language, complex mental processes, & complex social interactions
	Significant symbols allow for greater adjustment because both giver & receiver interpret them
	Language makes thought possible
	Thinking is an internalized or implicit conversation w/ the self by means of the significant gestures of language
	In Mead's view, animals cannot think, though many of them are conscious
	Thinking is the same as talking to one another
	Viewing language as a necessity for thought is a behaviorist view of thinking
	During the time Mead introduced his ideas of language & thought, introspection & talking therapy were popular in psychology
	In our conversations & actions, we strain to elicit automatic behavior
	Prayer, meditation, focused exercise, artistic practice, etc. often results in the is stopping of the conversations in our mind
	Prayer, meditation, focused exercise, artistic practice, etc. stops thinking & therefore enhances or expands consciousness
	THERE ARE FIVE MENTAL PROCESSES INCLUDING: INTELLIGENCE, REASON, CONSCIOUSNESS, MEANING MAKING, & MIND
	1. INTELLIGENCE IS THE MUTUAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE ACTS OF ORGANISMS & THE ENV
	In relation to intelligence, both animals & humans can adjust to each other but only humans use significant symbols
	In relation to intelligence, animals have unreasoning intelligence because they have no pause in action, no manipulation
	2. REASON IS BASED ON THE ABILITY TO POSTPONE ACTION, TO CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES
	In relation to reason, we can test out these alternatives mentally w/ no consequences
	In relation to reason, we can choose which stimuli to consider
	3. CONSCIOUSNESS IS AN AWARENESS OF THE SELF
	The TWO aspects of consciousness are substantive consciousness & reflective consciousness
	Substantive consciousness is that to which the individual alone has access
	Only the individual has access to substantive consciousness which is based on the pre consciousness of impulse, reason, etc. that is done w/o language or meaning in the social sense
	Reflective consciousness is the social use symbols from the external world
	Thus mental images are social because they arise only in relation to the external world & in gestures & symbols that are socially created
	We often recognize the contrast btwn substantive & reflective consciousness when, in conversation, we admit the difficulty of putting our feelings into words, or when we know something but don't know how to explain it
	4. MEANING IS THE CREATION OF MUTUAL SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING
	Meaning is the creation of mutual social understanding
	Meaning is highly social as seen in a gesture given to another so that the other's behavior is predictable in that if we offer a person a compliment, we expect civil or friendly behavior in return
	Giving a gift to a loved one only has meaning if both people agree on that meaning
	5. THE MIND IS A PROCESS, A CONVERSATION W/ ONESELF
	The mind arises & develops w/in a social process & is an integral part of that process
	Society is the processes that precedes both the mind & the self
	The social processes precedes the mind, precedes meaning, & is not a product of the mind
	The mind is not only the ability to create a response in another, but the response of the community as a whole
	We give a particular gift because our society defines it as appropriate
	It is difficult or impossible to give a gift that has solely individualistic meaning
	Symbolic interactionism foreshadowed Giddens & the Post Modernists who see institutions as both constraining & enabling to the creative individual
	For Mead, we need to grasp the emergence of society, self, etc. in that the whole is more than sum of its part just as water, i.e. H2O, is vastly different than 2 Hs & an O

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