ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly discusses three fundamental premises. The first premise is that human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have "for them. The second premise is that the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one's fellows. The third premise is that these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he encounters. The chapter explains being based on these three premises, symbolic interaction is necessarily led to develop an analytical scheme of human society and human conduct that is quite distinctive. A human society or group consists of people in association. Such association exists necessarily in the form of people acting toward one another and thus engaging in social interaction.
