37 Quotes by Talcott Parsons

  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    In so far as such a theory is empirically correct it will also tell us what empirical facts it should be possible to observe in a given set of circumstances.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    Theory not only formulates what we know but also tells us what we want to know, that is, the questions to which an answer is needed.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    The implications of these considerations justify the statement that all empirically verifiable knowledge even the commonsense knowledge of everyday life - involves implicitly, if not explicitly, systematic theory in this sense.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    It is probably safe to say that all the changes of factual knowledge which have led to the relativity theory, resulting in a very great theoretical development, are completely trivial from any point of view except their relevance to the structure of a theoretical system.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    Empirical interest will be in the facts so far as they are relevant to the solution of these problems.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    If observed facts of undoubted accuracy will not fit any of the alternatives it leaves open, the system itself is in need of reconstruction.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    The hypothesis may be put forward, to be tested by the s subsequent investigation, that this development has been in large part a matter of the reciprocal interaction of new factual insights and knowledge on the one hand with changes in the theoretical system on the other.

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  • Author Talcott Parsons
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    The main concern of the study is with the outline of a theoretical system. Its minor variations from writer to writer are not a matter of concern to this analysis.

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