RE: Questioning Self

Scott Grills (grills@augustana.ab.ca)
Thu, 18 Jan 1996 10:44:38 MST

In Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind" he offers a depiction of the
self as a concept which produces unfit citizens - members who wallow
in the self of selfishness. The self is cast as narcissism's handmaid.
This is not the self of Mead or Blumer however that is under attack.
The mature self of which Mead writes is a requisite of democratic
participation. Bloom's theme is not uncommon, that the self is a flawed
and narrow(ing) concept.
This is not a position which we need to accept.
Manson stole "Helter Skelter" from the Beatles and U2 took it back again.
A fully interactionist self resists much of critique which is leveled at
the concept more generally.
Scott Grills