Abstract

　The main purpose of this study is to examine the theory of Symbolic Interactionism formulated by Herbert Blumer, from the following viewpoints:

  a) How does Symbolic Interactionism explain the concept of socialization, i.e., the process in which hominids become human beings? 

  b) How does Symbolic Interaction explain the concept of Vergesellschaftung (Simmel, G.), i.e., the process or mechanism through which people construct human society?

  c) Why is human society to be considered to be a changeable process?

After careful examination, the following findings were made:

  i) Blumer regards socialization as the process in which the two frameworks or perspectives (schemes of definition and generalized roles) that have been acquired by an actor through interactions with groups of others guide his/her interpretations/definitions.

  ii) In Blumer's theory, society is seen to be possible only when each of the actors in interactions can properly grasp the two standpoints (that of the other and one's own standpoint in the eyes of the other) by doing a kind of self-interaction (i.e., taking into account of taking into account; the concept taking into account of taking into account is the famous terminology used by N. Luhmann, but it was originally formulated by Blumer himself in 1953).

  iii) Because of the nature of others (black boxness), all the actors interacting with others are seen to be necessarily forced to revise their interpretations/definitions continually. For this reason, society must be regarded as a changeable process.

 　Finally, we have tried to review critically the research method of Symbolic Interactionism (i.e., the approach from the standpoint of the actor) on the basis of the conception of man and society that has been clarified in the earlier chapters of this paper. Our review provides evidence for the two additional points listed below: 

  iv) in doing the approach from the standpoint of the actor, only an individual can be included into the category of the acting unit. 

  v) the standpoint of the actor perceived by researchers must never be seen as the standpoint in the raw but has to be seen as a kind of reconstruction of constructions created by researchers. 

　We finally have confirmed that testing this conception of man and society (i, ii, and iii noted above) empirically, based on the points iv and v, would (and must) be one of our important tasks in future.

Contents

（ソキエタス / 東北大学文学部社会学研究室 Vol.15 p.72 -75）：修士論文要旨・原版。

（関西学院大学出版会BookPark）：博士論文・原版。

（国立国会図書館）（Web Archive org.）：博士論文・Web版。