Sociology

Understanding the concept of ones self has been one of the most pressing and intriguing query that most people think about. Numerous philosophers have tried to explain the meaning and importance of the self as well as the corresponding factors that comes with it. In relation to this, George Herbert Mead has also tried to elaborate on the meaning of ones self and he did this by giving due emphasis on the interactions that an individual has with other people and with the society. Interacting with other people as well as establishing relationships with them has become part of the lives of most individuals that they do not really pay much attention to it. However, George Herbert Mead argues that the interaction of individual with other people and the society plays a pivotal role in understanding the ones self.

In the theory of George Herbert Mead, he asserted that the body and the self are separate. The distinction that Mead made regarding the body and self is rooted from the modern mechanistic world view, which was a dominant societal perspective during the time he wrote his theory in his book the Self and Society. In Meads perspective, the body is adapts to its environment and it can function competently even without the self. However, he explained that the body is not whole because bodily experiences are for us organized about a self (Mead, 1992, p. 357). On the other hand, Mead believes that the self develops shortly after birth due to the social interaction that an individual experience with other people. Contrary to the body, the self is whole and it can be regarded as both a subject and an object (Mead, 1992).

According to Mead, the self acts as an object when it is self-conscious because the meaning of ones self is relative to other people and situations. It is in the ability of an individual to treat his or her self as an object that allows him or her to observe, reflect on, plan, and direct his or her behavior. In addition, it is through the treatment of ones self as an object that an individual could be able to engage in impression management. He further elaborated on this matter, in the practice of people wherein their own performances are recognized through the position of an overseer. In doing so, people attempt to attune their behavior in line with expectations and standard of the people they are with or in regards with the situation that they are in. In this case, the self as an object turn people as socialized beings (Mead, 1992).
 
Mead also made a distinction between the Me and the I. The Me is referred as the self that emerges in relationship to a certain generalized as other. Me is a cognitive object that is only recognized retrospectively and is on reflection. When an individual acts as an overseer, he or she is somehow watching his or her self and also forming a self in accordance with the system of behaviors, which constitute the overseer. Conversely, the I refers to the reactions or actions of an individual whether it is in response to other people or merely self-initiated. The I gives an individual a sense of freedom and initiative because he or she will act in a manner that is not self-conscious. The concept of the I is observable when people react simultaneously to a certain situation of person without being self-conscious because their response is not based on a social script, which will enhance their impression management. In relation to this, the I is viewed as more creative because people have the freedom and initiative to react in amore creative manner as compared with the Me, which is often restricted in accordance with the rules of society or the self-image that the overseer wants to reflect upon other people (Mead, 1992).

The self plays an important role to the society because since it acts as a controlling mechanism, it ensures the rationality of human beings to act accordingly with the norms and standards of the society. Individuals could control themselves from urges that could harm people and could also be detrimental to the society. Being the case, the self helps in creating amore secure and better place.