title: G. H. Mead in the history of sociological ideas.
abstract: My aim is to discuss the history of the reception of George Herbert Mead's ideas in sociology. After discussing the methodological debate between presentism and historicism, I address the interpretations of those responsible for Mead's inclusion in the sociological canon: Herbert Blumer, Jürgen Habermas, and Hans Joas. In the concluding section, I assess these reconstructions of Mead's thought and suggest an alternative more consistent with my initial methodological remarks. In particular, I advocate a reconstruction of Mead's ideas that apprehends simultaneously its evolution over time and its thematic breadth. Such a historically minded reconstruction can be not only a useful corrective to possible anachronisms incurred by contemporary social theorists, but also a fruitful resource for their theory-building endeavors. Only then can meaningful and enriching dialogue with Mead begin.
authors.affiliation: University of Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Filipe Carreira
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D001527:Behaviorism / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D011593:Psychology, Social / Q000266:history; D012961:Sociology / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States