Talcott Parsons and the Theory of Action. II. The Continuity of the Development

Abstract

In The Structure of Social Action, Talcott Parsons developed a theory of action which corresponds in structure and method to Kant's critical philosophy. The core of this theory is the assertion that every action is to be understood as a product of the interaction of dynamizing and controlling forces. This basic proposition is elaborated into a theory through the construction of a four-dimensional "action space," which can be further differentiated into subsystems possessing varying degrees of orderedness. The differential effect of dynamizing and ordering forces on any given action is determined by its locationin the action space and by the kind of relation obtaining between the subsystemsof the action space. The relation between these subsystems which enables them simultaneously to expand their areas of effectiveness is interpenetration. The entire development of Talcott Parsons's theory of action is a progressive refinement of the theoretical devices available for the analysis of such processes of interpenetration. This is demonstrated in this essay for all the various stages of Parsons's theoretical development, from the laying down of thetheoretical core in The Structure of Social Action (1937) through The Social System (1951) to Action Theory and the Human Condition (1978).