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Talcott Parsons

American sociologist known for social action theory and structural functionalism

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He is best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism, and he served on the Harvard University faculty from 1927 to 1973.[1]

Life and work

As an undergraduate at Amherst College, Parsons studied biology and philosophy, receiving his BA in 1924.[2] After Amherst, he studied at the London School of Economics for a year, then earned his PhD in sociology and economics from Heidelberg University in 1927.[2][3] At Heidelberg, he worked with Alfred Weber and was examined by philosopher Karl Jaspers.[3] In 1927, Parsons became an instructor in the Economics Department at Harvard University.[4]

Parsons translated several of Max Weber's works into English and was influenced by Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Vilfredo Pareto.[5][6] When Harvard established its Sociology Department in 1930, Parsons was appointed as one of its first two instructors, alongside Carle Zimmerman.[7][8] Starting in the 1970s, younger sociologists began to fault Parsons' work for being socially conservative and overly intricate in its writing style.[7]

What the cited sources add

The 2013 book "Introduction to Sociological Theory" by Dillon states that Parsons was among the first professors in Harvard's new sociology department in 1930.[7][9] Dillon's 2013 publication further notes that sociology curricula have reduced their coverage of Parsons' theories compared to their highest point of influence between the 1940s and 1970s.[7][9] The same 2013 source by Dillon points out that Parsons' ideas have recently experienced renewed scholarly attention.[7][9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Turner Holton 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parsons, "On Building Social System Theory: A Personal History", Daedalus, 1970, p. 826–881 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alexander Stingl, Between Discursivity and Sensus Communis: Kant, Kantianism and the Social Media Theory of Talcott Parsons. Inaugural-Dissertation, Friedrich-A (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edward S. Mason, "The Harvard Department of Economics from the Beginning to World War II." Quarterly Journal of Economics 97. 1982. pp. 383–433. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dillon 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Talcott Parsons, "The Circumstances of My Encounter with Max Weber" in Robert K. Merton & Matilda White Riley (eds.) Sociological Traditions from Generation to ; Uta Gerhardt, "Much More than a Mere Translation Talcott Parsons' Translation into English of Max Weber's Protestantische Ethik und der Geist der Kapitalismus: (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dillon, "Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century", Wiley, 2013, p. 156–157 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Talcott Parsons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Harvard University Archives, "Papers of Talcott Parsons", HOLLIS for Archival Discovery (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Open Library record, ISBN 9781118471906 ("Introduction to Sociological Theory"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Talcott Parsons (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Talcott Parsons · Philosophers & Thinkers

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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