This book introduces social scientists to the ideas of George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) - one of the most original yet neglected thinkers of early twentieth century sociology.
Mead is an exceptional case amongst sociological classics in that, until now, there has been no comprehensive reader of his work. As the first one-volume, comprehensive edited collection of Mead’s published and unpublished writing, this book fills this gap. It is the first to critically assess all of Mead's writings and draw out the aspects that are central to his system of thought. The book is divided into three parts (social psychology, science and epistemology, and democratic politics), comprising a total of 30 chapters - a third of which are published here for the first time.
G.H. Mead: A Reader provides a unique and timely contribution to the understanding of this key theorist. It is essential reading for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of sociology, social psychology, philosophy of social science, social and cultural anthropology, and social and political theory.
Part I – Mead on the social self Section i. The statement of the problem 1. The Definition of the Psychical 2. Social Psychology as Counterpart to Physiological Psychology 3. On the Self and Teleological Behavior Section ii. The "I" and the "Me" as phases of the self 4. What Social Objects Must Psychology Presuppose? 5. The Mechanism of Social Consciousness 6. The Social Self Section iii. The self and the social order 7. A Behavioristic Account of the Significant Symbol 8. The Genesis of the Self and Social Control 9. On the state and social control 10. Cooley's Contribution to American Social Thought Part II – Mead on science and epistemology Section i. The statement of the problem 11. Suggestions Toward a Theory of the Philosophical Disciplines 12. On Darwin’s Theory of Evolution 13. The Nature of Scientific Knowledge Section ii. History and philosophy of science 14. The origins of Greek philosophy 15. The dualism of representational consciousness and a mechanical world 16. A Pragmatic Theory of Truth Section iii. Science applied 17. Science in social practice 18. On social consciousness and social science Section iv. Time and social order 19. The Objective Reality of Perspectives 20. The Nature of the Past Part III – Mead, a radical democrat Section i. Moral and political philosophy 21. The Philosophical Basis of Ethics 2. Natural Rights and the Theory of the Political Institution 23. Scientific Method and the Moral Sciences Section ii. Crime, social reform and labour relations 24. On the Role of Social Settlements 25. Social Bearings of Industrial Education 26. The Psychology of Punitive Justice Section iii. War, national identity and citizenship 27. The Psychological Basis of Internationalism 28. On Nationalism, Industrial Rights, and Social Conflict 29. How Can a Sense of Citizenship Be Secured? 30. National-Mindedness and International-Mindedness
Biography
Filipe Carreira da Silva is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and Senior Member of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK. He is the author of Mead and Modernity: Science, Selfhood and Democratic Politics (2010 Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award, Section on the History of Sociology, American Sociological Association).
