Time and Act

in Mead and Schutz's Theories

Abstract

Time is one of the themes that sociology deals with as important. Current social theories are attempting to grasp time in various dimensions. G.H.Mead and A.Schutz, who investigated time in relation to act, took the lead in such attempts. This ‘time-in-act’, because of its unique structure that consists of the three phases of present-past-future, is quite different from the one-dimensional time as a measure which is used in most traditional sciences. This paper attempts to put these two thinkers' theories of time-in-act in order, and compare them to show both common and diversing characteristics in their treatment of time-in-act. It will serve time studies in social theory to give a detailed explanation of time in relation to act.