DEMOCRACY. MEAD ON GAMES AND PLAY

Abstract

The concepts of game and play, which have traditionally been considered marginal or secondary phenomena by mainstream philosophy, gained a central position in the social behaviorism of George Herbert Mead at the beginning of the 20th century.

These concepts are important not only for the development of the child’s personality; they are also the essential forms of activity by means of which a self emerges in conjunction with the several roles a child is able to play in acquiring a basic form of moral consciousness.

The pragmatist concept of game and play is therefore the essential labor of democracy within the community. This concept will be examined in order to assess its relevance and contribution to the contemporary global world, which is more complex and challenging to comprehend than the relatively homogeneous urban context for which it was originally conceived. A better integration between the main human activities (play, work and creation) and an open formal model of society with more basic social equality could be Mead’s answers to the new challenges of globalization.