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Sociologie et sociétés

Parsons et ÉliasParsons and EliasStephen MENNELL

Talcott Parsons : RelecturesVolume 21, Number 1, printemps 1989

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/001498arDOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/001498ar

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Publisher(s)Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal

ISSN0038-030X (print)1492-1375 (digital)

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Cite this articleMENNELL, S. (1989). Parsons et Élias. Sociologie et sociétés, 21(1), 69–86.https://doi.org/10.7202/001498ar

Article abstractTalcott Parsons and Norbert Elias both came to sociology from studies inphilosophy and medicine, and arrived in Heidelberg at about the same time,moving in the same circles without apparently meeting. Despite the very greatdifferences in the outward form of their mature work - as first seen in TheStructure of Social Action and Ueber den Prozess der Zivilisation - theunderlying theoretical concerns overlap considerably. A key to their differentapproaches is Elias's early rebellion against the Kantian tradition, to whichParsons remained fundamentally loyal. The article sketches the differencesbetween the two authors' theories of knowledge and views of concept andtheory formation, and between their uses of Freudian theory. It does not,however, compare their respective theories of the development of humansociety.