Hans Joas' work reconstructs Mead's oeuvre in its development. To this end, he examines Mead's writings in a breadth that has not been done anywhere before: In addition to all of Mead's posthumously published books, his numerous essays—some of which Joas has discovered for the first time—and the manuscripts and letters contained in the estate form the philological basis for the interpretation. The concept of "practical intersubjectivity" proves to be central to the entire interpretation.