G. H. Mead

A Contemporary Re-Examination of His Thought
Suhrkamp | Insel
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Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: English world rights (MIT Press), France (Economica)

 


G. H. Mead / Praktische Intersubjektivität
A Contemporary Re-Examination of His Thought
A must-read for all who intend to use Mead seriously

»This major study reassesses the work of the American pragmatist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), which had a significant impact in fields ranging from metaphysics and ethics to sociology and social psychology.

The work of American pragmatist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) had a strong influence in fields ranging from metaphysics and ethics to sociology and social psychology. In this book, Hans Joas interweaves Mead's political and intellectual biography...

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»This major study reassesses the work of the American pragmatist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), which had a significant impact in fields ranging from metaphysics and ethics to sociology and social psychology.

The work of American pragmatist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) had a strong influence in fields ranging from metaphysics and ethics to sociology and social psychology. In this book, Hans Joas interweaves Mead's political and intellectual biography with the development of his theories. The key concept of the study is ›practical intersubjectivity,‹ a term Joas introduces to characterize the link implicit in Mead's work between a theory of intersubjectivity and a theory of praxis. Throughout the book, Joas stresses the practical, social, and political nature of Mead's work. Besides comparing Mead to the other American pragmatists, Joas discusses the relation between Mead's thought and that of such Europeans as Habermas, Apel, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Piaget. Joas's revisionist portrait of Mead as a socially engaged intellectual, with its emphasis on his relevance for contemporary philosophy and social science, has been a key factor in the revival of interest in Mead. The author's new preface includes an update on pragmatism studies in general and on Mead studies in particular.« (book desription of the English edition by MIT Press)

»There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Hans Joas's analysis of the theories and ideas of G. H. Mead is the best ever written on the subject.« David R. Maines, American Journal of Sociology

»An original and thoroughly scholarly examination of one of the most important social thinkers of the twentieth century.« Lawrence Kohlberg, Harvard Graduate School of Education
»There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Hans Joas's analysis of the theories and ideas of G. H. Mead is the best ever written on the subject.« David R. Maines, American Journal of Sociology

»An original and thoroughly scholarly examination of one of the most important social thinkers of the twentieth century.« Lawrence Kohlberg, Harvard Graduate School of Education
1980, 259 pages
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Persons

Author
Hans Joas was born in 1948 and is the Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and teaches as a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He has received multiple accolades for his work, including the Hans Kilian Prize, the Max Planck Research Award, the Prix Ricœur, and most recently, the Prize of the German Society of Sociology in recognition of his life's work as a scholar.
Author
Hans Joas was born in 1948 and is the Ernst Troeltsch Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and teaches as...

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Universalism
Year of Publication: 2025
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2025

Considering the well-being of all people when making moral and political decisions – for many people today, this is at least seen as an ideal. But such a humanist ethics was not always a given, and is still not universally valued. So when and where did it emerge – and why? Is it a peculiarity of the Judeo-Christian or Western Enlightenment tradition? And how is its emergence linked to the...

Under the Spell of Freedom
Year of Publication: 2020
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2020

How do the history of religion and the history of political freedom relate to one another? The diversity of opinions on this in the fields of philosophy, the humanities and social sciences and in...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Oxford UP), Spanish world rights (Loyola)

 

The Power of the Sacred
Year of Publication: 2017
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2017

»Disenchantment is a key term in the self-understanding of modernity. But what exactly does this concept mean? What was its original meaning when Max Weber introduced it? And can the...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Oxford UP), Spanish world rights (Herder), France (Seuil), Netherlands (Lemniscaat), Hungary (Gondolat)

 

The Sacredness of the Person
Year of Publication: 2011
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 2011

»What are the origins of the idea of human rights and universal human dignity? How can we most fully understand—and realize—these rights going into the future? In The...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Georgetown UP), Spanish world rights (Sal Terrae), Chinese simplex rights (Shanghai People’s Publishing House), France (Labor et Fides), Italy (Franco Angeli), Croatia (Breza)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Brazilian Portuguese rights (UNESP)

The Genesis of Values
Year of Publication: 1997
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 1997

»Public and intellectual debates have long struggled with the concept of values and the difficulties of defining them. With The Genesis of Values, renowned theorist Hans Joas...

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English world rights (University of Chicago Press), Russia (Aletheia), France (Calmann-Lévy), Italy (Quodlibet), Poland (Oficyna Naukowa)

The Creativity of Action
Year of Publication: 1992
Hans JoasYear of Publication: 1992

»Hans Joas is one of the foremost social theorists in Germany today. In this outstanding book he outlines the fundamentals of a new theory of action, drawing on philosophical pragmatism. The...

Rights sold to:

English world rights (Polity), Russia (Aletheia)

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (CIS), France (Cerf), Korea (Hanul)

 


DISCOVER

News
17.11.2023
Suhrkamp congratulates Hans Joas on his 75th birthday