SOURCE: "The Development of Mead's Social Psychology," in George Herbert Mead: The Making of a Social Pragmatist, University of Illinois Press, 1993, pp. 48-66.

In the following essay, Cook traces the origins of Mead's social psychological work and urges a fuller appreciation of his innovative ideas in the field of human social conduct.

The least neglected facet of Mead's much neglected contribution to American thought has been his social psychology. Even here, however, interest has generally been restricted to certain portions of the posthumously published Mind, Self and Society. This volume, which is based primarily upon stenographic student notes taken in Mead's 1928 advanced social psychology course at the University of Chicago,¹ provides a readable account of the conclusions at which Mead had arrived in this field near the end of his career. But there is little in it that helps the reader trace the roots of Mead's social psychological...