ABSTRACT
Talcott Parsons is regarded as one of the greatest sociologists of the twentieth century. He was largely responsible for bringing Max Weber to the attention of Anglophone scholars. He also elaborated a distinctive and highly influential school of functionalist sociology. However, one of its features was its neglect of the problem of historical specificity, despite the direct influence upon Parsons of Weber and Werner Sombart. In this manner, a few elements of the German historical school tradition were transferred to the American context. But they were dispossessed of much of their content and meaning. Ironically, Parsons achieved distinction by his creation of an ahistorical school of sociology, partly by rummaging selected material from a historically-oriented intellectual tradition.
