A critical elaboration of Parsons's ideas, reevaluating his influence on modern sociology & pointing out his relevance for modern society, in 5 Chpts, with an authors' Introduction. The Chpts were developed from a series of public seminars at Flinders U, South Australia, & include a contribution by Roy Fitzhenry. Robert J. Holton & Bryan S. Turner -- Reading Talcott Parsons: Introductory Remarks -- discusses the reappraisal of Parsons since his death in 1979, & sets out the aim of the book, which is to extend rather than interpret Parsons's ideas, while avoiding critical extremes. Parsons has been accused of excessive optimism, but ultimately his argument is in favor of social change; his perspective is less romantic than Marxist approaches. Parsons's intention was to define what is "social," & to justify Parsons's sociology is to defend sociology itself. (1) Robert J. Holton -- Talcott Parsons and the Theory of Economy and Society -- challenges the predominance of modern political economic approaches; claims that Parsons offered a powerful theoretical apparatus capable of analyzing the relationship between economy & society at a sophisticated level; & argues that Parsons's economic sociology is well suited to operationalization in empirical research. (2) Bryan S. Turner -- Sickness and Social Structure: Parsons' Contribution to Medical Sociology -- examines Parsons's theoretical contribution to the analysis of illness & of the medical professions & institutions, including his parallel between medicine & religion. Parsons's approach to the sick role concept & motivation in sickness are discussed. Parsons's main perspective was that sickness is a social condition, which he concluded was a form of "normalized deviance" in some ways comparable with crime. (3) Roy Fitzhenry -- Parsons, Schutz and the Problem of Verstehen -- investigates the role of Verstehen (subjective understanding) in Parsons's concept of social action. Critiques of Max Weber by Parsons & Alfred Schutz are compared; their differences are illuminated by the correspondence between them. Weber's category of action was a point of departure for each. (4) Bryan S. Turner -- Parsons and His Critics: On the Ubiquity of Functionalism -- discusses & categorizes the major criticisms against Parsons, including those of Robert K. Merton, C. Wright Mills, & Nicos Poulantzas. In a defense of Parsons, it is shown that critics of his structural functionalism are themselves functionalist. (5) Robert J. Holton & Bryan S. Turner -- Against Nostalgia: Talcott Parsons and a Sociology for the Modern World -- discusses sociology's attitude to the processes of industrialization, democratization, & rationalization & to the tension between traditional & modern values. Classical sociology (eg, Marx, Weber) wants a paradoxical combination of some modern values (science, reason) & some traditonal ones (order, community). Parsons's twentieth-century optimism, with its liberal-democratic politics, has been accused of complacency; but, in fact, it is a balanced approach that rejects both romantic, utopian sociology & crass economic individualism. The charge of anachronism is also refuted, showing the relevance of Parsons's ideas for modern movements such as peace, ecology, & feminism. Bibliogs: Talcott Parsons & General.