Editing Talcott Parsons (section)

===Amherst College===
As an undergraduate, Parsons studied biology and philosophy at [[Amherst College]] and received his BA in 1924. Amherst College had become the Parsons' family college by tradition; his father and his uncle Frank had attended it, as had his elder brother, Charles Edward. Initially, Parsons was attracted to a career in medicine, as he was inspired by his elder brother<ref name="ParsonsDaedalus">{{cite journal |last1=Parsons |first1=Talcott |title=On Building Social System Theory: A Personal History |journal=Daedalus |date=1970 |volume=99 |issue=4 |pages=826–881 |url=http://www.jstor.com/stable/20023975}}</ref>{{rp|826}} so he studied a great deal of biology and spent a summer working at the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution|Oceanographic Institution]] at [[Woods Hole, Massachusetts|Woods Hole]], Massachusetts.

Parsons' biology professors at Amherst were [[Otto C. Glaser]] and Henry Plough. Gently mocked as "Little Talcott, the gilded cherub," Parsons became one of the student leaders at Amherst. Parsons also took courses with [[Walton Hale Hamilton]] and the philosopher [[Clarence Edwin Ayres]], both known as "institutional economists". Hamilton, in particular, drew Parsons toward social science.<ref name="ParsonsDaedalus"/>{{rp|826}} They exposed him to literature by authors such as [[Thorstein Veblen]], [[John Dewey]], and [[William Graham Sumner]]. Parsons also took a course with George Brown in the philosophy of [[Immanuel Kant]] and a course in modern German philosophy with Otto Manthey-Zorn, who was a great interpreter of Kant. Parsons showed from early on, a great interest in the topic of philosophy.

Two term papers that Parsons wrote as a student for Clarence E. Ayres at Amherst have survived. They are referred to as the Amherst Papers and have been of strong interest to Parsons scholars. The first was written on December 19, 1922, "The Theory of Human Behavior in its Individual and Social Aspects."<ref>Talcott Parsons, "The Theory of Human Behavior in its Individual and Social Aspects." ''The American Sociologist'' Vol.27.no.4. Winter 1996. pp.13–23.</ref> The second was written on March 27, 1923, "A Behavioristic Conception of the Nature of Morals".<ref>Talcott Parsons, "A Behavioristic Concept of the Nature of Morals". ''The American Sociologist'' Vol.27.no.4. Winter 1996. pp. 24–37.</ref> The papers reveal Parsons' early interest in social evolution.<ref>Jens Kaalhauge Nielsen, "Beyond the Myth of "Radical Breaks" in Talcott Parsons's Theory: An Analysis of the Amherst Papers." ''The American Sociologist''. Winter 1996. Volume 27. no.4. pp. 48–54.</ref> The Amherst Papers also reveal that Parsons did not agree with his professors since he wrote in his Amherst papers that technological development and moral progress are two structurally-independent empirical processes.