Interactionism: Exposition and Critique (The Reynolds Series in Sociology)

This book presents an overview of that theoretical framework known as symbolic interactionism. It details the major intellectual and philosophical antecedents of the interactionist perspective, i.e., evolutionism, Scottish moral philosophy, German idealism, pragmatism, and functional psychology.

Under the heading evolutionism, the Darwinian notion of the mutually determinative relationship existing between environments and organisms is discussed, as are Henri Bergson's conceptions of the nature of radical, abrupt departures from earlier life forms and of the emergence of novel events. Scottish moral philosophers are dealt with in terms of their contribution to the conceptual inventory of symbolic interactionism. Of particular relevance here are concepts such as the impartial spectator "sympathy", the "I", the "Me", "role taking", "generalized other", and "looking-glass self." Those German idealists exerting an impact on George Herbert Mead and symbolic interactionism, namely, Fichte, Von Schelling, Kant, and Hegel receive mention. American pragmatic philosophy is then summarized, and special attention is given to the writings of Charles S. Pierce, William James, and John Dewey.

The second chapter discusses the major early interactionists, i.e., Charles Horton Cooley, William Isaac Thomas, and George Herbert Mead.

Part two discusses the principal varieties of contemporary symbolic interactionism. Major "schools" receiving attention are the "Chicago School", the "Iowa School", the