ABSTRACT
Talcott Parsons, one of the most influential and well-known twentieth century sociologists, is the author of an enormous body of works, which roused disputes and diverging interpretations. The argumentation of the thesis of diversity, though adopted by several interpreters of Parsons, has been expounded by the supporters of this thesis in different ways and with argumentative references. Parsons considers that the systemic problems of adaptation and goal-attainment are of an instrumental nature, that is to say, they require performing tasks that concern the system as a whole. On the contrary, the problems of integration and latent pattern maintenance require 'expressive' system maintenance activities with the contribution of energies able to solve strains and reconstruct required abilities. Systemic integration in differentiated systems requires appropriate 'generalized symbolic media of interchange' between the systems themselves. By 'generalized symbolic media of interchange' Parsons actually designates some instruments of a symbolic nature, such as money or influence.
