Philosopher views
Max Weber Political Philosopher (1864-1920)
Download 5.81 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Bibliography
Max Weber Political Philosopher (1864-1920)Max Weber was born in 1864 in Erfurt, once a Hanseatic town, now part of Germany. He is universally acknowledged as one of the most significant figures in the development of modern social science. Weber was responsible for the concepts of “meaningful social action” and “ideal-type,” forms of domination, and die stratification process of societies. Weber’s ideas have become the modern sociologist’s “stepping stones” toward a deeper insight about society. Among sociologists, Weber is recognized as one of the principal founding fathers’ of the discipline. Webers own writings covered and enormous intellectual realm. He not only had an encyclopedic knowledge of Western history, but also carried out extensive investigations into a range of other civilizations. Weber was a voluminous writer, and both his interests and his intellectual outlook altered to some degree over the course of his career. Describing and analyzing Weber’s work, therefore, presents formidable difficulties. In addition, Weber has become regarded throughout the world as an undisputed “classic” of sociology. Every lexicon or history of this discipline mentions his name as central and emphasizes his authoritative influence on its development. Understanding Weber’s theory requires an examination of: (1) his notion of capitalism; (2) Religion; (3) Human action; and (4) Application to debate. There are numerous issues that Weber addresses. For example, Weber’s works on the position of the German industrial workers connected the consequences of the advance of capitalism in Germany’s increasing industrialization. Weber argued that capitalist development cannot be prevented, it is inevitable for contemporary society and only the course it takes can be influenced economically. Thus, Weber opposed two political developments in particular: the tendency to a feudalization of bourgeois capital and the theory of the domestic market. Weber argued that both forms of society have at their center a conservative domestic capitalism. The tendency toward the two political societies, Weber contended, might have stood in the way of a successful social development and the development of Germany’s political freedom. In capitalism, the freedom of contract was thus the freedom of the property owner to exploit the worker. For Weber, the relationship between propertied and property less classes was inherently conflictual, something that was part of the very fabric of capitalism. Weber did not seem to regard this as either remediable or altogether heinous. Conflict over the distribution of resources was a natural feature of any type of society and to imagine an earthly paradise of harmony and equality was too utopian. Moreover, Weber’s study of the cultural significance of Protestantism provides insight into his views of religion. Weber was inspired by a discussion that had been going on in Germany for many years, the connections between religious and economic developments. In his discussion of religion and the rational capitalist mentality, Weber argues that religion is an active, determinate force in the creation of the capitalist spirit. The values of religion was the inspirational drive behind the ideas and practices of rational economic activity. In particular, rational economic conduct was based on the idea of a “calling” which is consistent with religion. Finally, Weber’s study of human action also provides insight into the relationship between action and economy. Weber argues that human action is motivated by a complex of subjective meanings which seems to the actor as adequate conduct. The aim of Weber’s sociology is to link individual difference, both in attitude, belief and value in order to achieve societal cohesiveness. Weber’s assumption is that society must have an avenue to make sense of differences between individual human actors. Hence the primary agent of action is always the individual person. Weber posits that individual action is diverse and as subjective as our differing values. However, we must have some way in which to understand collectivities, such as the state, and association, or business corporation. Weber argues that social action can be determined as (1) Instrumentally rational, that is determined by expectations as to the behavior of objects in the environment and of other human beings; these expectations are used as conditions or means or the attainment of the actor’s own rationally pursued and calculated tools. (2) Value-rational, that is determined by a conscious belief in the value for its own sake of some form of behavior, independently of its prospects of success. (3) Affectual, that is determined by the actor’s specific affects and feeling states. And (4) Traditional, that is, determined by ingrained habituation. Any debate that centers around issues of class, property, or bureaucracy will find Weber’s work helpful. The debater will find that Weber is less useful in establishing and evaluating values. Instead, there is much more in terms of debating more practical concerns. Weber’s perspective provides excellent support for notions of repression and marginalization within value systems that promote class society. In addition, the debater can construct an argument that many of our values are based within the market system and therefore should be rejected. BibliographyReinahrd Bendix. FORCE, FATE AND FREEDOM: LECTURES ON HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Gower, 1983. Arthur Mitzman. THE IRON CAGE AN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION OF MAX WEBER. New York: Knopf, 1970. Wolfgang J. Mommsen. THE AGE OF BUREAUCRACY: PERSPECTIVES ON THE POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY OF MAX WEBER. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. Frank Parkin. MAX WEBER. London: Tavistock Publications, 1982. Walter Garrison Runciman. A CRITIQUE OF MAX WEBER’S PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. Cambridge: University Press, 1972. Max Weber. THE AGRARIAN SOCIOLOGY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1976. Max Weber, ANCIENT JUDAISM. Hans H. Gerth & Don Marmndale trans. Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1952. Max Weber. BASIC CONCEPTS IN SOCIOLOGY. H.P. Secher trans. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969. Max Weber. THE CITY. Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1958. Max Weber. CRITIQUE OF STAMMLER. New York: Free Press, 1977. Max Weber. GENERAL ECONOMIC HISTORY. New York: Collier Books, 1961. Max Weber. THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM. London: G. Allen & Unwin, ltd., 1930. Max Weber. THE RATIONAL AND SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF MUSIC. Don Martindale, Johannes Riedel & Gertrude Neuwirth, trans & ed. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1958. Max Weber. THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION. Boston: Beacon press, 1963. Max Weber. THE THEORY OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION. A. M. Henderson & Talcott Parsons, trans & ed. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1947. Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 5.81 Mb. Share with your friends:
|