A TRIBUTE TO TALCOTT PARSONS

Author(s): Y. B. Damle
Source: Sociological Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 1/2 (March and September 1979), pp. 131-135
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23619357
Accessed: 06-05-2020 17:32 UTC

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OBITUARY

A TRIBUTE TO TALCOTT PARSONS

Y. B. Dam le

Can death be beautiful? Yes, when a person or particularly a

scholar has contributed a great deal-to the advancement of know
ledge and even more so, when it has been suitablv appreciated and
acknowledged by the scholarly world. Prof. Talcott Parsons died al
most a year ayo. He was specially invited to Heidelberg where he
had obtained his Ph.D. manv manv years ago, in order to honour
him for his remarkable attainments and contribution to the field of
knowledge. It is reported that the same evening Prof. Parsons went
to eternal sleep. Therefore, under such circumstances dea'h can be
said to be beautiful.

Talcott Parsons can be appropriately described as a Dnvana

Yogi, who carried on the pursuit of knowledge relentlesslv and with
a remarkable degree of enthusiasm tor exploring fresh pastures. Apart
from his initial training he kept on expanding his intellectual hori
zons. Tn his case, it should be mentioned that he was ever evolving,
emerging, as well as evaluating earlier knowledge and insights which
he had himself formulated or others had formulated. It was an un
ending ouest for knowledge and insights which has now come to an
end with his death although his contribution to sociology is so phe
nomenal and unique that it is bound to continue to stimulate debate
for years to come as it did in the past.

Yet, in spite of all his learning, attainments and contribution,

Parsons struck me as a remarkably modest person. I distinctly remem
ber when I first met him in early September, 1960 at the Harvard
University Faculty Club. He , put me at ease by making enciuiries
about mv interests and work. During the vear I spent at MIT and
Harvard, when I had a few occasions to discuss my work with him,
I was particularly impressed by his unfailing graciousness and kind
ness. He practically read all that I could offer to him for his com
ments and remarks which made me reallv feel obliged, because I had
no claim on his time whatsoever. Later on again, when I met him
at Philadelphia when he was also Visiting Professor at the Un i ver

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132 SOCIOLOGICAL BULLETIN

sitv of Pennsylvania, I could renew my acqua

again I had the privilege of getting his comm
on whatever I had written in the meanwhile. I
that Talcott Parsons never even mentioned about his own work or
contribution but used to enthusiastically mention the work of some
junior scholars in different fields of sociological inquiry. This modesty
and graciousness become all the more charming when viewed in the
lights of his firm intellectual convictions, commitments and tower i ne
contributions.

Parsons was initially trained in economics at the Amherst college,

although he was originally scheduled to studv bio-medical sciences.
Later on his training at the London School of Economics, and par
ticularly at Heidelberg paved the way for the remarkable career which
he was to follow. His initial training in economics and particularly
his concern for delineating the various disciplines of social sciences,
particularly economics and sociologv, laid the foundation of his future
career. It can be truly said that he was trying to grapple with the
western civilization, trving to absorb its best features and also trving
to understand its weaker elements at the same time. Even more im
portant has been Parsons' attempt to theorize about all that the
western civilization has stood for, rather continues to stand for.
Talcott Parsons, partly as a result of his attainments, and also
partlv due to his continued struggle to encompass the western civi
lization in all its ramifications and complexities, has been one of the
most controversial figures in contemporary social sciences. Over fortv
five years or so, it would be extremely difficult not to come across
reference to his contributions in any important work worth the name
in social sciences. This is not to suggest that all that he had to sav
has been readilv acceptable, but Parsons and his work have provided
a significant point of criticism as well as departure for many serious
students of sociology and also of related social sciences too. Parsons
had the unique distinction of quite a few times being written on his
contribution in his life-time. He also had the good fortune of attend
ing several symposia where his work and contributions were discussed
As far as his own publications are concerned, it is not necessarv to
list all of them because they have occupied a central place in socio
logy and even in other social sciences over the last forty vears or
more, which speaks volumes for his contribution or rather for the

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 OBITUARY 133

stimulation he lias provided f

sciences.
i

While Parsons kept on evolving, expanding and evaluating both

his own work, as well as, that of others, there is a complicated
balance in him between continuity and change. While there is an
essential continuity, he has never taken a finite and final position
because he had the courage of conviction which is born out of ex
tremely remarkable intellectual ability and an equally open and re
ceptive mind. While he familiarized English knowing scholars with
the works of Weber, Durkheim, Pareto, (in his famous work: The
Structure of Social Action), he also in a way revisited these authors
after initial introduction and encounter. For Parsons, any contribu
tion which tried to grapple with the problem of social reality in its
complexity was adequately stimulating. Particularly in view of his
initial love for economics and his branching away to sociology meant
that he really tried to scan the entire field of social and economic
organization.

In his professional career he started as an Instructor in Econo

mics although later on he gave up economics in preference to socio
logy which has certainly been a great gain to the world of sociology.
After accepting the position in sociology, he started by enquiring into
the distinctive features of modern society with special reference to the
study of professions. Study of capitalism, study of societal complexities
and the characteristic features of a modern society occupied a special
place in his mind.

Having been trained in economics and having particularly ad

dressed himself to the complexity of western civilization, he tried to
formulate a general theory of action, emphasizing the relationship
between social system, cultural system and personality as a system. In
his another monumental work The Social System, Parsons provides
a unified knowledge of the working of society, instead of fragmented
knowledge. He tried to encompass total social reality which has been
attempted by very few social scientists. More over on the basis of his
analysis, he has even provided some clues about the shape of things
to come. In this context special reference must be made to his formu
lations about future society, particularly with reference to the im
portance of bureaucracy, science and secularism. This shows his deep

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134 SOCIOLOGIGAL BULLETIN

concern for human society and its progress. Even

western civilization and modern societies, he fe
would not provide a comprehensive framework
turned his attention to the contribution of Freud. It is indeed re
markable that Parsons came under the influence of Henderson — a
famous scientist at Harvard and was greatly impressed by Conant
who had contributed a great deal to the biological sciences. In tact,
the concept of system and homeostasis were internalized by Parsons
by virtue of his interaction with Henderson and Conan. For him
evolution of societies meant emphasis on cultural and structural fea
tures without neglecting the biological aspects of evolution too.

He was equally well concerned about the reality which was not
amenable to empirical verifications, particularly religion. Simultane
ously, he was equally impressed by the role of modern science.
Parsons reacted sharply to behaviourism and developed, what is
known as, 'analytical realism'. His was a fantastic attempt to inte
grate the diverse dimensions and insights to which he was exposed
by his sustained and rigorous interaction with eminent scholars,
particularly from other disciplines. While Parsons was concerned
with analytical theory and system he was not insensitive to important
events like the Russian Revolution or the Fascist Movement in Ger
many.

Parsons continued to deal with the problem of rationality and

he was very much concerned with the study of professions with a
view to understand the modifications in the western civilization which
was basically characterized by private enterprise etc. In fact, he was
very much concerned about the social change and evolution via. the
analysis of structural differentiation. He had addressed himself in a
very definite way to the understanding and analysis of modern soci
eties-structures and processes. He was naturally concerned about the
intrinsic importance of power in modern societies. In fact, his analysis
of power and polity has been referred to in all serious works or dis
cussions in political science during the last three decades at least. It
is true that he was very much concerned with the problem of soli
darity and the societal communities. However, he was sensitive to
the dimensions of disorder, deviance and alienative dispositions etc.
Parsons' work, because of the vastness of its enterprise, has been to

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 OBITUARY 135

a certain extent problematic. A

a taxonomy of complex society a
details as a system of concepts w
he was trying out various concep
and understand complex social
be said that it provides a box o
providing a definite clearcut the
of the term. Parsons' work wa
borately, without going into ' th
work has been rated to be ver
which every serious scholar in
been required to take serious no
more. Is this not a remarkable a
His work has stimulated debat
aged various scholars to grapple
or as a whole. What more can

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