ABSTRACT
At a purely non-symbolic level, interpersonal behaviour can be construed as the mutual experience of the other in terms of the structured organization of perception. Symbolic interaction is the great liberator from simple stimulus–response chains. Non-symbolic interaction is only relevant at the non-human level. But is it completely true to assert that reciprocal patterns of orientation are only human modes of interaction? Communication therefore entails a broader spectrum of behaviour than symbolic interaction, albeit there can be no doubt that among humans at least, the majority of communicative processes are subsumed under symbolic interaction. What constitutes the essential core of non-symbolic communication among animals is their location in the immediacy of the stimulus-world – in the world of the here and now. What George C. Homans leaves out of his account is the whole problem of ‘consciousness’ and the symbolic representation of that consciousness that men make to themselves.
