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Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973. Parsons developed a general theory for the study of society called action theory, based on the methodological principle of voluntarism and the epistemological principle of analytical realism. The theory attempted to establish a balance between two major methodological traditions: the utilitarian-positivist and hermeneutic-idealistic traditions. For Parsons, voluntarism established a third alternative between these two. More than a theory of society, Parsons presented a theory of social evolution and a concrete interpretation of the "drives" and directions of world history. Parsons analyzed the work of Émile Durkheim and Vilfredo Pareto and evaluated their contributions through the paradigm of voluntaristic action. Parsons was also largely responsible for introducing and interpreting Max Weber's work to American audiences. Although he was generally considered a major structuralist functionalist scholar, in an article late in life, Parsons explicitly wrote that the term "functional" or "structural functionalist" were inappropriate ways to describe the character of his theory.〔Talcott Parsons, "The Present Status of "Structural-Functional" Theory in Sociology." In Talcott Parsons, ''Social Systems and The Evolution of Action Theory'' New York: The Free Press, 1975.〕〔Talcott Parsons generally agreed with Kingsley Davis' assessment that functional analysis cannot be regarded as an appropriate characterization for any special method or any specific school. It is a "technique," which is far too universal to embody such implications. See Kingsley Davis, "The Myth of Functional Aanalysis as a Special Method in Sociology and Anthropology." ''American Sociological Review,'' Vol.24.no.6. 1959. pp. 757–772.〕 For Parsons, "structural functionalism" was a particular stage in the methodological development of the social science, and "functionalism" was a universal method; neither term was a name for any specific school. In the same way, the concept "grand theory" is a derogatory term, which Parsons himself never used. ==Biography== Talcott Parsons was born December 13, 1902 in Colorado Springs. He was the son of Edward Smith Parsons (1863–1943) and Mary Augusta Ingersoll (1863–1949). His father had attended Yale Divinity School and was ordained as a Congregationalist minister, serving first as a minister for a pioneer community in Greeley, Colorado. At the time of Parsons' birth Edward S. Parsons was a professor in English at Colorado College and vice-president of the college. During his Congregational ministry in Greeley, Edward S. Parsons had become sympathetic to the social gospel movement; yet, at the same time, he tended to view this question from a higher theological position and he was hostile to socialism as a sheer ideology.〔Edward S. Parsons, "A Christian Critique of Socialism." ''Andover Review'' XI. 1889. pp. 597–611.〕 Also both Edward S. Parsons and his son Talcott would be familiar with the theology of Jonathan Edwards. The father would later become the president of Marietta College in Ohio. Parsons' family is one of the oldest families in American history; his ancestors were some of the first to arrive from England in the first half of the 17th century.〔Charles Parsons (2004). "Some remarks on Talcott Parsons’s family". In: ''Journal The American Sociologist''. Vol 35, Nr 3, Sept 2004. pp. 4–22.〕 The family's heritage consisted of two separate and independently developed Parsons lines, which both went back to the early days of America and indeed deeper into British history. On the father's side the family could be traced back to the Parsons of York, Maine. On the mother's side, the Ingersoll line was connected with Jonathan Edwards and from Edwards on there would be a new independent Parsons line because his eldest daughter Sarah married Elihu Parsons on June 11, 1750. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Talcott Parsons」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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