Editing Talcott Parsons (section)

===Social evolutionism===
Parsons contributed to [[social evolutionism]] and [[neoevolutionism]]. He divided evolution into four sub-processes:
# differentiation, which creates functional subsystems of the main system, as discussed above;
# adaptation, in which those systems evolve into more efficient versions;
# inclusion of elements previously excluded from the given systems; 
# generalization of values, increasing the legitimization of the increasingly-complex system.

Furthermore, Parsons explored the sub-processes within three stages of evolution:
# primitive
# archaic
# modern

Parsons viewed Western civilization as the pinnacle of modern societies and the United States as the one that is most dynamically developed.

Parsons' late work focused on a new theoretical synthesis around four functions that he claimed are common to all systems of action, from the behavioral to the cultural, and a set of symbolic media that enables communication across them. His attempt to structure the world of action according to a scheme that focused on order was unacceptable for American sociologists, who were retreating from the grand pretensions of the 1960s to a more empirical, grounded approach.