"Freedom means the freedom to fail as well as to succeed." -Talcott Parsons (President Dwight Eisenhower's Bon Mot)
Talcott Parsons was born on December 13th, in Colorado Springs. He grew up to attend Amherst College with a major in Biology and Philosophy and then continued to the London School of Economics where he was greatly influenced by the works of Bronislaw Malinowski and Leonard Hobhouse, among others. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Economics at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. In 1927 he became a Professor at Harvard.
He dabbled in many, many areas among which include: a Lay Analyst in medical sociology, in which he created the concept of the sick role in association to psychoanalysis. Talcott also engaged in the studies of economics, education, race relations, and anthropological, small group dynamics.
Talcott is best known for being a Sociologist, making huge leaps in social Evolutionism and a Meta-Theorist. Also becoming a contributor to "The Grand Theory:" an attempt to integrate the social sciences into one theoretical framework. The majority of his work focused on the general theoretical system for the analysis of society, better known as Structural Functionalism. Many of his important publications were developed out of this idea. Parsons also came up with the theory that every member of society fulfills these four functional imperatives, which include: adaptation, goal attainment, latency, and integration.
For its time, Talcott's work was bold. He was once attacked by the public and other Theorists as an Ethno Centrist (one who believes that their society is above all others) for making the statement that the Western civilization of the U.S. was more developed than that of other societies of its time. He also made many attempts to structure the actions and intentions of peoples in a society into his own relative theories and concepts; which, for his time, may have been too overwhelming an idea for the American society.
Either way, Talcott is said to have been one of the most influential Sociologists of the 20th Century. "William Outhwaite describes Parsons as ‘the midwife of modern sociology.’ " The main goal of his work, was to create one general theory about human social relationships, by combining the ideas of different disciplines. Parsons has a very large list of influential accomplishments to his name, among which included contributions such as: Pattern Variables, the term "Gloss," The Unit Act, Functionalism, and Neo-Evolutionism. He has published more than 150 articles and books.
Talcott Parsons passed on May 8, 1979 in Munich, Germany.
Works by Parsons:
The Structure of Social Action, 1937
Essays in Sociological Theory, Pure and Applied, 1942
Sociological Theory and Modern Society, 1968
Politics and Social Structure, 1969
References
Sociology at Hewett http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/soc/parsons/parsons.htm, (March, 2006)
Sociology Professor http://www.sociologyprofessor.com/socialtheorists/talcottparsons.php, (March, 2006)
Hamilton, Peter. Readings from Talcott Parsons, 33-55, London: Tavistock Publications, 1983
"William Outhwaite describes Parsons as ‘the midwife of modern sociology.’ " Obtained from: Reference txt, pg 1, http://www.generation-online.org/p/pparsons.htm, (March, 2006)
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006