title: Society, self, and mind in moral philosophy: the Scottish moralists as precursors of symbolic interactionism.
abstract: Many of the concepts central to symbolic interactionism were anticipated by the eighteenth century Scottish moralists. The symbolic-interactionist and Scottish moralist orientations both hold that society alone engenders uniquely human qualities, self-arises through sympathetic interaction, and mind and self reconstruct their environments. George H. Mead's conception of though as internal dialogue between the "I" and "me" aspects of the self and his notion of the "generalized other" were foreshadowed by some of the Scottish moralists, particularly Adam Smith. These schools differ, though in their treatments of emotion, communication, political structures, and the origin of sympathy.
mesh_terms: D004532:Ego; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D010684:Philosophy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011584:Psychology / Q000266:history*; D012606:Scotland; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment