Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons was a very revered American sociologist. Parsons came from a very religious and socially aware family. At first studying biology, Parsons soon got attracted to the world of economics and sociology. To get a wide variety of different view, Parsons studied not only in America, but in Europe as well. Parsons began teaching at Harvard where he was exposed to sociological thinking.

Parsons influenced all types of Sociology, though his views were considered controversial. Focusing on social actions and systems, he believed that morality is the main ingredient to preserve social order. Parsons worked earlier sociologists' views into a theory of social action, or the action theory. These ideas look into today's society and its institutional structures, which work to clarify action and to gain from it.

Parsons' functionalism, influenced by Bronislaw Malinowski, sparked a debate. Other sociologist challenged and critiqued his beliefs. These challenges only increased the significance of his theories. Parsons' principal focused on the study of social action and its components. He examined surroundings to determine why and if they influenced the social system. Parsons received high honors for his accomplishments in sociology. He was considered the most intelligent sociologist of his era.

Talcott Parsons was born on December 13, 1902 in Colorado Springs. His family consisted of five siblings and his mother and father, Mary Ingersol Parsons and Edward Parson. Parsons was academically pushed by his father, who was the first in the family to attend college. Although of Christian faith, his family was still interested in the sciences of Darwinism, which gave Parsons an early view of science.

He attended high school at Horace Mann High School in New York City. After graduation, he started his studies at Amherst College. Parsons majored in biology, but shifted his thoughts to sociology later in his learning experience at Amherst. In 1924, Talcott graduated from Amherst and moved on to the London School of Economics. Soon after Parsons began the London School of Economics, he was offered a place at the University of Heidelberg. In Germany, he was exposed to a new view of social thought, entailing Max Weber's beliefs. Parsons began his classes in economics and sociology and Marxian theory. In 1927, he was awarded his doctorate in economics at Heidelberg, and he married Helen B. Walker around the same time. He then returned to America to teach economics at Harvard University. From 1928 to 1929, Talcott produced two writings about his main thoughts on society. He used different sociologists' views and made critiques on them and incorporated his own conceptions. Parsons was still interested in the relationship between economics and sociology, and he began to notice that they had complex links. He was caught between the two fields, which he both admired, and noticed he had to make a change. So in 1931, Parsons became a member of Harvard's sociology department and launched his teachings in the new subject.

During 1937, while teaching at Harvard, Talcott brought forth his first major work, The Structure of Social Action. Encyclopedia Britannica describes, "Parsons drew on elements from the work of several European writers...to develop a common systematic theory of social action" In the book, he investigated the theorists views and compared and contrasted between them. And he always centered his focus on morality's place in social action. Soon, Parsons became a full professor in Sociology and began relating other fields to hi own. Two years later, Parsons attended a psychology institute, where he focused on Freud's theories. Parsons started paying attention to anthropology and psychology, and he formed an in depth analysis of the Freudian theory. In 1946, Talcott helped create the department of social relations, in which he was nominated as chairperson. To add, he became the president of the American Sociological Society in 1949.

By the 1950's, he became the most celebrated sociologist in academic life. Parsons' second book, The Social System, looked at his theses on a much bigger scale, and included many altered thoughts. He used his new studies as background information on the three types of action organization, cultural, social, and personality. He included the major problems of society and his structural-function views, how society's parts work together to maintain social order.

As his views formed, he received much controversy on his subjects because they were so broad and varied. Although, Parsons continued his studies and developed an even wider view over time. He thought of society as four main parts, which were specialized for