Modern Reconstruction of Classical Thought: Talcott Parsons

Modern Reconstruction of Classical Thought: Talcott Parsons
Author: Jeffrey Alexander
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2014-04-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317808614

In this volume the author maintains that sociology must learn to combine the insights of both Durkheim and Marx and that it can only do so on the presuppositional ground that Weber set forth. Alexander maintains that the idealist and materialist traditions must be transformed into analytic dimensions of multidimensional and synthetic theory. This volume focusses on the writing of Talcott Parsons, the only modern thinker who can be considered a true peer of the classical founders, and examines his own profoundly ambivalent attempt to carry out this analytic transformation.

The Social Thought of Talcott Parsons

The Social Thought of Talcott Parsons
Author: Uta Gerhardt
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2016-02-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317015525

The Social Thought of Talcott Parsons offers an insightful new reading of the work of Talcott Parsons, keeping in view at once the important influences of Max Weber on his sociology and the central place occupied by methodology - which enables us to better understand the relationship between American and European social theory. Revealing American democracy and its nemesis, National Socialism in Germany as the basis of his theory of society, this book explores the debates in which Parsons was engaged throughout his life, with the Frankfurt School, C. Wright Mills and the young radicals among the "disobedient" student generation, as well as economism and utilitarianism in social theory; the opponents that Parsons confronted in the interests of humanism. In addition to revisiting Parsons' extensive oeuvre, Uta Gerhardt takes up themes in current research and theory - including social inequality, civic culture, and globalization - offering a fascinating demonstration of what the conceptual approaches of Parsons can accomplish today. Revealing methodology and the American ethos to be the cornerstones of Parsons' social thought, this book will appeal not only to those with interests in classical sociology - and who wish to fully understand what this 'classic' has to offer - but also to those who wish to make sociology answer to the problems of the society of the present.

Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons
Author: Peter Hamilton
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1992
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780415037624

Talcott Parsons (1904-79) is widely regarded as one of the most important sociologists of the twentieth century. These four volumes provide an essential guide to the thought and work of this major sociologist.

Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons
Author: Sandro Segre
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2012
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0761855874

This introduction dwells on Parsons' conceptual apparatus and offers a compendium of his research. His works are subdivided into three distinct periods, each characterized by specific concepts and theoretical developments. Parsons utilized his conceptual and theoretical frameworks to conduct several studies, which are presented in detail. Segre also evaluates the numerous receptions of Parsons' writings. Attention is devoted to the controversies and divergent interpretations his works have inspired. -- adapted from back cover.

Theoretical Logic in Sociology

Theoretical Logic in Sociology
Author: Jeffrey C. Alexander
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 1669
Release: 2021-03-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317807057

This four volume work, originally published in the 1980s and out of print for some years, represents a major attempt to redirect the course of contemporary sociological thought. Jeffrey Alexander analyses the most general and fundamental elements of sociological thinking about action and order and their ramifications for empirical study. He insists that sociological thought need not choose between voluntary action and social constraint. The four volumes can be read independently of one another as each presents a distinctive theoretical argument in its own right. The first volume is directed at contemporary problems and controversies, not only in ‘theory’ but in the philosophy and sociology of science. The last three volumes make interpretations, confronting the individual theorists, and the secondary literature, on their own terms.

The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies

The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies
Author: A. Javier Treviño
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2021-11-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000475166

Talcott Parsons was the leading theorist in American sociology—and perhaps in world sociology—from the 1940s to the 1970s. He created the dominant school of thought that made "Parsonian" a standard description of a theoretical attempt to unify social science, as reflected in the fact that his contributions to the discipline cover a range of issues, including medicine, the family, religion, law, the economy, race relations, and politics—to name but a few. This volume brings together leading scholars working in the field of "Parsonian Studies" to explore the background of Parsons’s work, the content of his oeuvre, and his subsequent influence. Thematically organized, it covers Parsons’s contributions and impacts in areas including the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences; cultural sociology; personality, mental illness, and psychoanalysis; and economics and political and economic sociology. In addition, it considers his influence in different areas of the world and on particular students, and offers insights into the Parsonian tradition’s practical application to contemporary social issues. An authoritative, comprehensive, and in-depth critical assessment of the Parsonian legacy, The Routledge International Handbook of Talcott Parsons Studies will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and in sociology and social theory in particular, with interests in the history of sociology and the enduring relevance of Talcott Parsons.

Theory of Culture

Theory of Culture
Author: American Sociological Association
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780520075986

With the increasing focus on the concept of culture by sociologists and other social scientists, there is now a need for clarifying and developing theoretical perspectives on this issue. The contributors to this volume have answered this call, each adding new insight to the debate over culture, its definition, and its relationship with other basic categories in sociological theory. Along the way they touch on other fundamental issues, such as the interrelationship of culture with society, the human personality, and the wider environment of the human condition.