George Herbert Mead

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George Herbert Mead
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George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

• Father- Hiram Mead, Congregational minister
• (1869-1881) Faculty of Oberlin Theological
  Seminary
• Mother- Elizabeth Storrs Billings
• Devoutly religious
• Taught two years at Oberlin
• After death of husband in 1881
• President of Mount Holyoke College (18901900 )
• South Hadley, MA

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George Herbert Mead

• Attended Oberlin College (18791883)
• Harvard (18871888)
• Mead taught at University of Michigan (18911894)
• Worked with John Dewey
• Married
• Best friend Henry Castles sister Helen (1891)

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George Herbert Mead

• Dewey, Chair at University of Chicago (1894)
• Hired Mead
• University of Chicago
• Philosophy instructor
• Later Chair of Philosophy Department

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Social Environment

• Progressive Era (1889-1920)
• Reformers Children from Protestant families
• Often preachers kids
• Improve society rather than save souls
• Help the masses
• Peaceful reform not revolution
• Faith in science, reason, education, own
  abilities

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Social Environment

• Volunteerism
• Self-discipline
• Practical action
• Optimism about future
• Accomplish own goals
• Also help others

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Social Environment

• Social Problems Reform
• U. of Chicago encouraged faculty to focus on
  social problems
• Address practical problems
• Close friends with
• Jane Addams

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Reform Activities

• Mead involved in
• Womens rights
• Improving lives of workers
• Prison reform
• Juvenile justice reform
• Race relations

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Intellectual Roots

• Hegel Dialectical process creation of self
• Self emerges through I Me
• Conversation between the I (Thesis) Me
  (Antithesis), the self (Synthesis) emerges

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The Self as Process
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The I and the Me
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Intellectual Roots

• Pragmatic Philosophers Peirce, James, Dewey
• Meaning of object depends on purpose at the time
• Human action result of reflective self
• Not stimulus/response
• Meaning enables person to achieve goals
• Charles Horten Cooley
• Looking-glass self

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Meads Ideas

• Society Process of adaptation to the
  environment. Involves
• Division of labor
• Cooperation
• Communication
• Human interaction
• Taking role of the other

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Meads Ideas

• Social Act
• People adapt behavior to actions of others
• Taking the role of the other Assessing
  possible reactions to various behaviors
• Choosing behavior that achieves most desired
  reaction
• Mutual role-taking allows people to coordinate
  behavior

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Gestures

• Abbreviated acts
• Almost instinctual
• Examples
• Raising arm in threatening way
• Opening arms in greeting

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Gestures
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Gestures and Significant Symbols

• For Gesture to be significant
• Must mean same to both organisms
• Meaning involves capacity to consciously
  anticipate how others will respond to symbols or
  gestures

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Significant symbols

• Fundamental elements of language
• Nothing about symbol conveys meaning
• Meaning based on agreement
• Response requires interpretation

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Examples of Symbols
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Ideas

• Mind, Self, Society
• Mind Process not a thing
• Self Product of minded behavior
• Society We construct the world in which we live
• Mind, self, society are interdependent

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Ideas

• Socialization
• Develop self by learning to role-take
• Imitation
• Play
• Game
• Generalized other

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Meads Relevance to Sociology

• Social psychology
• Influence on micro sociology
• Symbolic interactionism
• Term coined by Herbert Blumer
• Meads student