American - Sociologist | December 13, 1902 - May 8, 1979
Spencer's god was Evolution, sometimes also called Progress.
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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A theoretical system does not merely state facts which have been observed and that logically deducible relations to other facts which have also been observed.
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Among those who are satisfactory in this respect it is desirable to have represented as great a diversity of intellectual tradition, social milieu and personal character as possible.
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But the fact a person denies that he is theorising is no reason for taking him at his word and failing to investigate what implicit theory is involved in his statements.
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From all this it follows what the general character of the problem of the development of a body of scientific knowledge is, in so far as it depends on elements internal to science itself.
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If there are four equations and only three variables, and no one of the equations is derivable from the others by algebraic manipulation then there is another variable missing.
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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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Special emphasis should be laid on this intimate interrelation of general statements about empirical fact with the logical elements and structure of theoretical systems.
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That is, a system starts with a group of interrelated propositions which involve reference to empirical observations within the logical framework of the propositions in question.
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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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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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