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George Herbert Mead

George Herbert Mead. 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

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George Herbert Mead

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  1. George Herbert Mead

  2. 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 (1890–1900 ) • South Hadley, MA

  3. George Herbert Mead • Attended Oberlin College (1879–1883) • Harvard (1887–1888) • Mead taught at University of Michigan (1891–1894) • Worked with John Dewey • Married • Best friend Henry Castle’s sister Helen (1891)

  4. George Herbert Mead • Dewey, Chair at University of Chicago (1894) • Hired Mead • University of Chicago • Philosophy instructor • Later: Chair of Philosophy Department

  5. Social Environment • Progressive Era (1889-1920) • Reformers: Children from Protestant families • Often preacher’s kids • Improve society rather than save souls • Help the “masses” • Peaceful reform not revolution • Faith in science, reason, education, & own abilities

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

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

  8. Reform Activities • Mead involved in: • Women’s rights • Improving lives of workers • Prison reform • Juvenile justice reform • Race relations

  9. Intellectual Roots • Hegel: Dialectical process & creation of self • Self emerges through “I” & “Me” • Conversation between the I (Thesis) & Me (Antithesis), the self (Synthesis) emerges

  10. The Self as Process

  11. The I and the Me

  12. 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

  13. Mead’s Ideas • Society: Process of adaptation to the environment. Involves: • Division of labor • Cooperation • Communication • Human interaction • *****Taking role of the other

  14. Mead’s 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

  15. Gestures • Abbreviated acts • Almost instinctual • Examples: • Raising arm in threatening way • Opening arms in greeting

  16. Gestures

  17. 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

  18. Significant symbols • Fundamental elements of language • Nothing about symbolconveys meaning • Meaning based on agreement • Response requires interpretation

  19. Examples of Symbols

  20. Ideas • Mind, Self, & Society • Mind: Process not a thing • Self: Productof minded behavior • Society: We construct the world in which we live • Mind, self, & society are interdependent

  21. Ideas • Socialization • Develop self by learning to role-take: • Imitation • Play • Game • Generalized other

  22. Mead’s Relevance to Sociology • Social psychology • Influence on micro sociology • Symbolic interactionism • Term coined by Herbert Blumer • Mead’s student

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