Sociology 2234E Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Symbolic Interactionism, Helen Keller, George Herbert Mead

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2234E
• Professor: Lesley Harman

Document Summary

Two meanings: a thing that one can designate by a symbol or a name, a goal or purpose, an objective usually the satisfaction of needs. Institution: social practices which successfully satisfy human needs. Language is the repository of the objects that have proved important in the life of particular peoples. Action is social insofar as it takes others into consideration and is thereby oriented in its course (weber) A functional unit of conduct with an identifiable beginning and end that is related to the organism"s needs and purposes and that is oriented toward one or more objects. Meaning is always being negotiated through interpretation. When an individual acts: indicate to the other what they plan to do, indicate what the other is expected to do in return, what social object is being created by them. An example would be signaling on the highway. It indicates to others drivers what you plan to do, and what is expected of them.