The "development of the individual's self, and of his self- consciousness within the field of his experience" is preeminently social. Discuss in context of G.H Mead.

Mead defines self as the ability of the individual to take oneself objectively while acting as a subjective actor. This implies that the individual acts and then takes himself outside of the action and empathetically places himself in the place of another person to whom the action is directed. Then the individual imaginatively foresees what the possible response of the other might be and changes his own actions accordingly. Therefore, the individual becomes subjectively conscious of how his actions may be perceived by the others.

This process of anticipation of the other's actions is possible only if the individual has engaged in prior interactions with others. Therefore, the consciousness of the self emerges through multiple interactions with others in his social group.

Through these interactions, the individual internalizes the mores, beliefs and norms of the others in his society. This occurs through the play stage, where the individual roleplays the actions and reactions of a single individual other such as acting like a doctor or a teacher, and through the game stage, where the individual internalizes the responses of a multitude of social actors or the 'generalized other'.

Therefore, the development of the individual's self is mediated through the perceptions of the generalized other to the actions of the individual. By interacting with this generalized other and experiencing its responses through various social actors, the individual is able to develop self consciousness.