George Herbert Mead Critical Essay | Critical Essay by John Dewey

Critical Essay by John Dewey

SOURCE: "George Herbert Mead," in The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. XXVIII, No. 12, June 4, 1931, pp. 309-14.

In the following essay, Dewey discusses Mead's influence on social psychology and reflects on their personal relationship.

As I look back over the years of George Mead's life, and try to sum up the impression which his personality left upon me, I seem to find running through everything a sense of energy, of vigor, of a vigor unified, outgoing and outgiving. Yet as I say this I am aware that perhaps only those who knew him best have a similar impression. For there was nothing about him of the bustle and ado, the impatient hurry, we often associate with vigor. On the contrary he was rather remarkably free from the usual external signs of busy activity. He was not one to rush about breathless with the conviction that he must somehow convince...
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