Talcott Parsons

71

Talcott Parsons : biography

December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979

In August 1963 Parsons got a new research assistant, Victor Lidz, who would become an important collaborator and colleague. In 1964 Parsons flew to Heidelberg in Germany in order to celebrate the 100th birthday of Max Weber and discuss Weber’s work with Jürgen Habermas, Herbert Marcuse and others.Otto Stammler (ed.), Max Weber and Sociology Today. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Parsons delivered his paper "Evaluation and Objectivity in Social Science: An Interpretation of Max Weber’s Contribution."Talcott Parsons, "Evaluation and Objectivity in Social Science: An Interpretation of Max Weber’s Contribution." in Talcott Parsons, Sociological Theory and Modern Society.New York: Free Press, 1967. pp. 79–101. (Originally delivered at the Weber Centennial, April 1964, Heidelberg. The meeting became in reality a clash between pro-Weberian scholars and the representatives for the Frankfurther School. Before leaving for Germany Parsons discussed the upcoming meeting with Reinhard Bendix and commented that "I am afraid I will be something of a Daniel in the Lion’s den."Letter from Talcott Parsons to Reinhard Bendix, April 6, 1964. Parsons collection. Harvard University Archives. Bendix wrote back and told Parsons that Marcuse in his ears sounded very much like Christoph Steding (who was a Nazi philosopher).Letter from Reinhard Bendix to Talcott Parsons, April 6, 1964. Parsons collection. Harvard University Archives.

Parsons conducted a persistent correspondence with noted scholar Benjamin Nelson,For one discussion of Benjamin Nelson see Donald A. Nielsen, "Rationalization, Transformations of Consciousness and Intercivilizational Encounters: Reflections on Benjamin Nelson’s Sociology of Civilizations." International Sociology, Vol. 16. no. 3. September 2001: 406-420. with whom he shared a common interest in the rise and destiny of civilizations, a correspondence which only ceased with Nelson’s death in 1977. The two scholars also shared a common enthusiasm for the work of Max Weber and the two scholars would generally agree on the main interpretative approach to the study of Weber. Benjamin Nelson had participated in the Weber Centennial in Heidelberg and during the conference Nelson had got into a violent argument with Herbert Marcuse, whom he accused to tarnish Weber’s name.For Benjamin Nelson’s written critique of Herbert Marcuse. See, Benjamin Nelson, "Discussion of Industrialization and Capitalism by Herbert Marcuse." In Otto Stammer (ed.) Max Weber and Sociology Today. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1971. (Originally in German in 1965). In reading the written version of Nelson’ s contribution to the Weber Centennial, Parsons wrote, "I cannot let the occasion pass without a word of congratulations which is strong enough so that if it were concert I should shout bravo."Letter from Talcott Parsons to Benjamin Nelson, February 13, 1967. Talcott Parsons Collection. Harvard University Archives. In several letters Nelson would keep Parsons informed of the often turbulent leftist environment of Herbert Marcuse.Letter from Benjamin Nelson to Talcott Parsons, September 18, 1967. Talcott Parsons Collection. Harvard University Archives. In the letter of September 1967, Nelson would tell Parsons how much he enjoyed reading Parsons’ essay on "Kinship and the associational Aspect of Social Structure."Letter from Benjamin Nelson to Talcott Parsons, September 15, 1967. Talcott Parsons Collection. Harvard University Archives. Also, among the scholars on whom Parsons and Nelson would share internal commentaries was the work of Jürgen Habermas.

Mark Gould was educated at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, at the time a center for political radicalism. At Reed, Gould’s theoretical interest was sparked by Professor Howard Jolly’s exegesis of Parsons. Gould decided that he wanted to study with Parsons and arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1967 and entered Parsons’ office, at their first meeting, with hair down to his shoulders, with a wild beard and dressed in the colorful manners of the late sixties. Gould would become Parsons’ research assistant by the summer of 1968. Parsons was opposed to the Vietnam War, yet he was disturbed by what he considered the anti-intellectual tendency in the student rebellion, where serious debate often was substituted by handy slogans by Marx, Mao and Fidel Castro. Gould, who was thrown out by the state police from University Hall (at Harvard) early in the morning on April 10, 1969, often had heated discussions with Parsons about politics and society in Parsons’ office, yet as Gould insisted these dialogues were always theoretically fruitful.