To What Extent Does G.H Mead's 'Philosophy of the Present' Offer an Account of How Social Actions Unfold in Time and Space?

3067 Words13 Pages
To what extent does G.H Mead’s ‘Philosophy of the Present’ offer an account of how social actions unfold in time and space? By Rachel Pemberton Transforming the Self and Society – AM25124-2 To what extent does G.H. Mead’s ‘Philosophy of the Present’ offer an account of how social actions unfold in time and space? “The Philosophy of the Present is a deliberately ambiguous title. On the one hand, it indicates that Mead is concerned with the historical locus of philosophy and its tasks in his time. On the other, he defines the task of contemporary philosophy as taking seriously ‘the proposition that reality exists in a present’. How are we supposed to understand this proposition?” (Joas, 1985, pg168). As Joas (1985) points out, maybe one the main problems arising from an examination of Meads theories in Philosophy of the Present is the confusion created by Mead skipping from one theory to the next and his disconnected arguments. This is due to the fact that Mead only intended his manuscript to be used as an aid to his lectures. Published posthumously, these lecture notes were assembled for publication by Meads students, resulting in confusing interpretations of Meads intended theories. However, by looking at Meads influences, and examining others who have expanded on his ideas, and also those who have criticised his attempts at an eclectic approach to the social and natural sciences, it is possible to gain an acceptable understanding of Meads proposal of the relationship between social action and time and space. The Philosophy of the Present (1932) introduces us to Mead’s thoughts on the ‘self’ and how the self develops. Although this was greatly expanded in Mind, Self and Society in 1934, The Philosophy of the Present provides us with the basis of Mead’s ideas. Mead compared the development of the self to that of a system, which he noted were never
Open Document