George Herbert Mead: Biography And Contributions Of This Philosopher And Sociologist

They say that the classes that George Herbert Mead taught at the University of Chicago were packed. The philosophy students (because, curiously, one of the best sociologists of the 20th century was, first, a philosopher) were truly enthusiastic about Mead’s way of making them participate in his classes, based on a totally Socratic principle. A fluid and lively dialogue was thus established, which also attracted the university’s doctoral students in sociology.

In this biography of George Herbert Mead You will meet one of the most important sociologists of the 20th century, founder, among other things, of the theory of symbolic interactionism.

Brief biography of George Herbert Mead, creator of symbolic interactionism

To be fair, we should say “one of the creators.” Because, along with Mead, other authors were also behind the origin of this trend, such as Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) and Erving Goffman (1922-1982). The first established his theory of the “mirror self” as early as 1902, which recovers some bases from William James (1842-1910) and maintains that the image we have of ourselves is fed by what others think of us. us and how they see us. On the other hand, Goffman lays the foundations of microsociology, which deals with human interaction on a small scale, day-to-day.

As for the term, It was Herbert Blumer (1900-1987), also from the Chicago school of sociologists, who coined the name “symbolic interactionism.” in 1937 to encompass the theories collected from Mead.

All these currents have their roots in the individual self in constant interaction with others, which makes up what we call society. But let’s look in more depth at who George Herbert Mead was and what his contributions were to sociology.

The philosophy professor who became a sociologist

We have already commented in the introduction that Mead taught philosophy classes, not sociology. His “conversion” of him into one of the most famous representatives of modern sociology is motivated, first, by the close relationship that philosophy maintains and always has maintained with sociology (and everything that concerns the human being); and second, because we have already said that His classes aroused real passion at the University of Chicago, and not only among his philosophy students

George Herbert Mead was born in 1863 in the state of Massachusetts (USA). Before teaching in Chicago he had studied at various colleges in the country and also in Europe, although, according to Professor George Ritzer, he never obtained an official degree.

However, despite his lack of certification, Mead soon established himself as one of the most brilliant teachers at the University of Chicago, where he served as professor until his death in 1931. In his classes He profoundly highlighted the great importance of the Self, that is, of the individual mind, within the social framework which led him to postulate some of the bases of symbolic interactionism and, above all, of the first social behaviorism.

His works appeared posthumously: in 1932 The Philosophy of the Present was published; in 1934, Mind, self and society from the point of view of a social behaviorist; and finally, in 1938, The Philosophy of the Act came to light. Mead is famous for having left nothing written during his lifetime, or at least nothing finished; His books are the result of the compilation of his numerous notes, lectures and classes.

It is known, however, that at the end of his days he intended to polish and publish his notes, an undertaking that he was unable to carry out, as death surprised him before completing the task. It was others (especially his students) who, by collecting the numerous manuscripts that Mead had left, were able to capture his ideas in the form of finished works, and in this way did a great favor to sociology.

The “I” and society

For Mead, the Self, that is, individual consciousness, emerges as interaction with society That is, it is a social process, through which the being becomes inhibited and enters a state of “shyness.” This individual consciousness arises, therefore, as a result of contact with the environment, from which it follows, according to Mead, that the mind is a social product.

Mead’s theories are behaviorist and pragmatist. That is to say, both Mead and his followers do not conceive the subject as something isolated from the social context in which he is immersed. They are realistic, insofar as it is reality that directs the behavior of the individual towards society. In this sense, the famous theory of the emergence of the self (that is, of the ego) supported by Herbert Mead proposes that the emergence of the self is the result of an adaptation to the environment. First, there would be the impulse to satisfy the needs of the subject These needs and their immediate satisfaction involve a mandatory adaptation to the environment, from which this satisfaction will be obtained.

This adaptation is present in all organisms, but, according to Mead, an essential characteristic can be seen in humans: reflexive adaptation, very different from the mere biological or instinctive adaptation of animals. And it is precisely this human reflexive adaptation that becomes the engine of emergence of the self, of the ego, which will depend, therefore, on the social context of the individual.

The Theory of the Act

Mead’s Act Theory is closely linked to this awakening of the self in relation to society. The Theory of the Act can be divided into four phases : The first is precisely the impulse that the body feels to satisfy its needs (for example, eating). The second is the perception that this organism has of its environment; Where to find the source that meets your need? Therefore, the obligation to interact with the environment is established. The third phase is that of manipulation, understanding the word as the manual shaping of the environment; for example, finding a way to obtain the fruit hanging from a tree.

And finally, the fourth phase would be consummation, in which the organism has managed to successfully manipulate its environment and has been able to satisfy its primary need or impulse (eating, in this case).

Unlike animals, humans include in our interaction with the environment a social act, “significant gestures”, whose maximum exponent would be, of course, language. Through language we interact with our context to satisfy these needs and, unlike other types of gestures shared with animals, language stimulates sender and receivers in equal parts In this way, and summarizing what was stated above, significant gestures are the vehicle through which human beings communicate with their environment and allow them to adapt.

symbolic interactionism

George Herbert Mead was one of the pioneers of what Blumer called symbolic interactionism. Many authors, however, place it in a kind of “pre-interactionism.” although it is evident that many of the bases of this current arise from his theory.

Interactionism is a key sociological movement of the 20th century and, of course, the first that changed the focus from which to analyze the sociological phenomenon, by placing the individual as the starting point for understanding society. This is precisely why interactionism is so close to other disciplines such as psychology, since it focuses on the individual.

At the basis of the interactionist thinking of Mead and other authors is, of course, pragmatism, which we have already talked about, as well as behaviorism, which focuses its research on observable human behaviors. And we must not forget the contributions of Georg Simmel (1858-1918), German philosopher and sociologist, one of the first to maintain that the person acts only in relation to others; that is, with society.

The isolated individual is neither understandable nor feasible; All the interactionists saw this, including George Herbert Mead, of whom we have outlined a short review that we hope will be useful to you to understand the scope of his ideas in today’s world.