Max Weber

1
Max Weber

• By Marissa Madrigal, Beau Hindman, Amy Wrenn

2
Background

• Born in Thuringia, Germany (1864)
• Was the eldest of eight children
• Weber was a sickly child who suffered from
  physical and mental torment
• His father was a prominent liberal politician and
  civil servant,
• His mother was a moderate Calvinist and very
  religious.
• Parents were refugees from Catholic persecution
• Parents had marriage problems because of
  different beliefs.
• Both Weber and his brother Alfred became a
  sociologists and economists.

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Background

• Passionate reader
• At 14 he was writing essays about Homer, Virgil,
  Cicero, and Livy.
• At 18 he entered University of Heidelberg
• He was shy and thin, his shyness quickly
  disappeared when he enter a dueling fraternity.
• With this he started to drink large quantities of
  beer
• He was engage for six years to his cousin Emmy
  but ended it because of mentally and physical
  problems

4
Background

• Age eighteen he entered University of Heidelberg
• He was shy and thin, his shyness quickly
  disappeared when he enter a dueling fraternity.
• With this he started to drink large quantities of
  beer
• From time to time he would served with the German
  army in Strasbourg.
• In 1884, he returned and study at the University
  of Berlin.
• He also attended University of Goettingen but was
  once again interrupted for military training.

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Background

• In 1893 he married his distant cousin Marianne
• She was later a feminist
• She collected and published Weber's journal
  articles as books after his death
• After his fathers death, Weber became prone to
  nervousness and insomnia. He developed
  psychological problems and was institutionalized
  in a sanitarium.
• Took over five years to recover
• He was encourage to write
• In 1903 he became co-editor of the Archiv fuer
  Sozialwissenschaft
• This became the leading Social science journal in
  Germany.

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Background

• He resumed his teaching duties during WWI
• In 1904, he visited the U.S, which helped him
  with his recovery and was fascinated by America.
• He delivered an essay about the social structure
  of Germany while in St. Louis for the Congress of
  Arts and Sciences.
• Between 1892 and 1905 he wrote a series of essays
  and speeches which addressed the failure of
  German idealism.
• These articles dealt with the social and economic
  conditions in eastern Germany.
• His works were rarely published during his
  lifetime.
• His works slowly were translated in English.
• In 1905, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
  Capitalism, was published.

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Background

• War broke out
• Weber was the first German to opposed it openly
• Criticized the ineffectiveness of German
  leadership
• The last few years of his life, he became very
  political.
• Wrote many political newspaper articles.
• He was founding member of and active campaigner
  for the newly organized Deutsche Demokratische
  Partei.
• There was a proposal to make him a candidate for
  presidency of the Republic.
• Max Weber died of pneumonia in June 14, 1920

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Background

• Webers work
• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
  (1905)
• The Religion of China Confucianism and Taoism
  (1916).
• The Religion of India the Sociology of Hinduism
  and Buddhism (1916-17)
• The Sociology of Religion (1921)

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Intellectual Influences

• Adolescent Greek and Latin classics
• Homer, Virgil, Cicero Livy
• Influences on his work
• Comte
• Marx
• Nietzsche
• Kant
• Neo-Kantians

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Intellectual Influences

• August Comte (1798-1857)
• Believed in the Hierarchy of Science
• Each science is dependent upon the other
• This hierarchy ranges from the simplest to more
  complex forms of science
• The sciences above rely on the sciences below,
  therefore he believed that the sciences on top,
  such as Sociology were more abstract and
  difficult than those on the bottom.
• Weber disagreed with Comtes notion of hierarchy.
  He believed there could be as many sciences as
  needed. A method must advance knowledge rather
  than be faithful to an imaginary ideal of
  cognition.
• Webers methodological approach, however, was
  influenced by the ideas from Comte

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Intellectual Influences

• Nietzsche Marx
• Influence evident in Webers sociology of ideas
  and interests
• Weber
• material ideal interests dictate and
  individuals conduct
• World Images are a product of created ideas that
  an individual has
• Social action is governed by the dynamic of
  individual interests
• Weber believed ideas had a greater significance
  than Nietzsche Marx thought
• Marxs belief that ideas were expressions of
  public interest and that they served as weapons
  in the struggle between classes and political
  parties also heavily influenced Weber.

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Intellectual Influences

• Marx
• Weber and Marx agreed that modern methods of the
  organization increased efficiency and
  effectiveness of production, but it threatens to
  dehumanize its creators.
• Economic Order Weber did not agree with Marx
• Marx maintained that economic order was
  determined by class struggle and owners of
  production
• But Weber believed the character of political
  power and the effect of the military also played
  important roles in determining power
  relationships.
• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
  was a reaction to Marxs metaphysical view that
  all events of civilization are reducible to a
  single cause, namely the economic order.

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Intellectual Influences

• Marx
• Webers theories regarding stratification and
  economic behavior are rooted from the Marxian
  economics of society.
• Weber saw democratic ideals come from the Marxian
  revolutionary ideology.
• So much of Webers work was influenced by Marx.

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Intellectual Influences

• Nietzsche
• Analysis of Psychological Mechanisms Ideas
  become rationalizations to use as private
  aspirations or power and mastery.
• Both Nietzsche and Weber worried about the future
  and the 20th century. They thought it would be
  full of tyranny and horror.
• Apparently they possessed good reason to harbor
  such concerns.
• Much of Webers work was influenced by Nietzsche.

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Intellectual Influences

• Kant
• Happiness and the good must be different
• One does the good out of a sense of obligation or
  duty
• Morality must be linked to the universal
  categorical imperatives
• These categorical imperatives based in pure
  reason and stand outside the human condition
• Morality serves as a bridge between pure reason
  and the ontological state of humanity
• Humans must be totally free to express an
  authentic sense of duty.
• But if knowing the good requires doing the good,
  can humans actually be fully free?

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Intellectual Influences

• The Neo-Kantians
• A broad cultural movement focused on an
  intellectual critique of the ideas of Positivism,
  Naturalism materialism which followed the
  aftermath of the decline of German Idealism.
• Autonomy of the Individual
• Became critical of social domination (via
  governments)
• Weber strongly identified with the Neo-Kantian
  movement because of his German citizenship
• Proposed a unified Germany where all people
  worked toward the German national mission.
• He demonstrated the methodical ethic of work
  (Rational Capitalism)

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Concepts and Contributions

• Weber is considered one of the founders of modern
  sociology
• His work is considered to be complex, varied and
  open to subjective interpretation

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Verstehen (undestanding)

• Recognized advantage sociologists had over
  natural scientists
• Natural scientists cannot gain insight to the
  behavioral patterns of the phenomena they study
  (example cannot empathize with the function of
  an electron or chemical compound)
• Methods should be derived from studying the
  context of the phenomenon but also empathizing
  with the individuals involved, so in this sense,
  a mode of interpretation.
• Critiqued as being little more than intuition an
  overly soft and subjective method
• Weber insisted his approach was a rational
  procedure involving systematic research

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Social Action as Four Ideal Types

• Weber defined sociology as the study of social
  action between or among individuals (action
  defined as meaningful, purposive behavior)
• This definition contrasts Durkheim's impression
  of society as "structures that function apart
  from human purpose and will"
• Individual action treated as the basic unit of
  analysis
• Reflects, in part, the notion of
  transactionalism.

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Ideal Types of Social Action

• Zweckrational
• Rational means to attain a particular rational
  end chosen
• example person pursues college degree to
  (hopefully) obtain a job that grants financial
  security
• Wertrational
• Rational means to attain an irrational end
• example person follows teachings of a prophet,
  or lives a certain way in hopes of receiving
  "eternal salvation"

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Ideal Types of Social Action

• Affekual
• Social action guided by emotions
• example person attends a particular college
  because their significant other is enrolled there
  
• Traditional
• Social actions guided by customs and habits
• example standing at a football game for the
  singing of the Star Spangled Banner

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Assumption Based on Research

• Weber maintained that human social action in
  general has become more formal and rational by
  deliberately matching means to ends.
• Claimed that only in modern societies does formal
  rationality exist in all spheres of social action.

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Use of the Ideal Types as a Method

• A sort of measuring rod, devised of the most
  "logically consistent" features of a phenomenon
• Example Ideal Capitalism has four basic and
  logical components
• private ownership
• pursuit of profit
• competition
• laissez-faire economics

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Rationalization

• Weber thought the world was becoming increasingly
  rational (rather optimistic)
• Supported his assertion via cross-cultural
  analysis
• Weber considered modern capitalism to be the root
  motivation of rationalization
• the motivation for maximum profits required
  rational reasoning to develop efficiency

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Four Basic Types of Rationality

• Practical Rationality
• Characterized by acceptance of given realities or
  constraints in society and simply calculating the
  best way to deal with them
• Patriarchy
• Theoretical Rationality
• An attempt to master reality, characterized by
  transcending daily realities in pursuit of
  enlightenment
• Searching for the Truth of the Universe

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Four Basic Types of Rationality

• Substantive rationality
• Courses of action are determined by a value
  system in which behaviors are limited
• Women and children first! (assumes women and
  children represent the future and that men are
  more expendable)
• Formal rationality
• Courses of action are determined by universally
  applied rules, laws, and regulations
• Do not kill
• Weber saw formal rationality as leading to the
  "Iron Cage rational and established rules
  designed to prevent individuals from deviating.

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Bureaucracy

• Weber defined bureaucracies as "goal-oriented
  organizations designed according to rational
  principles in order to efficiently attain the
  stated goals"
• Weber saw the formation and execution of
  bureaucracies as necessary to complex societies
• The ideal bureaucracy possesses these
  characteristics
• Official business is conducted on a continuous
  basis
• Business is conducted in accordance with
  stipulated rules
• Every official's responsibility and authority are
  part of a hierarchy of authority
• Officials do not own the resources necessary for
  them to perform their assigned functions, but
  they are accountable for the use of those
  resources
• Offices cannot be appropriated by their
  incumbents in the sense of property that can be
  inherited or sold
• Official business is conducted on the basis of
  written documents

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Causality

• Weber thought it was important to go beyond
  simply recording events
• Needed to explain the reasons behind the events
• Weber decided that causal certainty was
  impossible
• Therefore, the best way to measure causality was
  by probability

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Three components of causality

• Human actions cannot be explained in terms of
  absolute "laws" such as cause and effect.
• To grasp the meaning of human actions would
  require a different method
• The social scientist's own moral, political and
  aesthetic values will enter into their
  conclusions in a way that those people in the
  natural sciences would find odious.

30
Values and Value Relevance

• According to Weber, values play a crucial role
  before, during, and after social research
• He strongly thought teachers must keep their
  personal values out of the classroom
• However, he thought that scholars have a perfect
  right to include their values
• "Students should be presented with the facts
  attendees at a conference, or some other public
  gathering, expect to hear opinionated comments
  supported by facts"
• Weber believed that quantitative, empirical
  studies cannot tell people what they "ought" to
  do.

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Types of Authority

• Definitions
• Power the ability to impose one's will onto
  another, even when the other objects.
• Authority legitimate power, power that is
  exercised with the consent of the ruled

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Three Types of Authority

• Rational-legal authority
• Established via impersonal, rational rules that
  have been legally enacted (possibly by contract)
• Example  The United States Government
• Traditional authority
• Power is traditionally transmitted from
  generation to generation, by inheritance or
  appointment
• Example Monarchies
• Charismatic authority
• Based on the appeal of figures who claim to
  possess extraordinary virtuosity
• Naturally unstable because power is with the
  individual
• Note the Leader-Follower dynamic

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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

• Weber's best-known work
• Traced the impact of Protestantism (primarily
  Calvinism)
• Believed to be one of the most powerful forces
  behind capitalism, though not exclusively
• Profit as a moral crusade - legitimated
  inequality
• Found nations with comparable technology and
  infrastructure lacked the cultural (religious)
  encouragement

34
The Protestant Ethic

• Webers historical research suggested that
  Catholicism regulated the notion of divine
  vocation to clerics.
• On the other hand, Luther secularized the
  notion of vocation, suggesting God took interest
  in the work of all persons and would be
  ultimately rewardedor punishedfor such labors.
• But at the hands of John Calvin, this work
  ethic becomes more complex.

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The Protestant Ethic

• Calvin advocated a doctrine of Predestination
• Before creation, God already knew who would
  accept the gift of salvation and who would not.
• Those persons who were predestined to accept the
  gift of salvation were known as the Elect. All
  others would be damned.
• Sadly, humans could not know the mind of God in
  such matters.
• Therefore, it would be better to live the life of
  true faith (frugal, pious, suffer in silence,
  work hard)
• Wealth might serve as an indicator of ones
  devotion to Christ if one saved it rather than
  spent it.
• Inter-worldly asceticism

36
The Protestant Ethic

• Weber thought that the Protestant Ethic promoted
  rationalization of Western society.
• He also maintained that greed would serve as a
  poor motivator for capitalism, since the focus
  would be both on higher profit and higher levels
  of spending (let everybody know you are wealthy).
• But does such an ethic really exist today?

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Sociology of Religion

• Book length chapter in Economy and Society
• Looked at four different aspects of religion
• Religious Leaders
• Social Classes and Groups
• Belief and Behavior
• Religion and other spheres of life

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Three types of Religious Leaders

• Magician
• Practical problem solvers who often worked with
  spirits
• Endowed with charisma
• Healer and miracle workers
• Appears in even complex religious systems
• Priest
• Permanent paid post
• Charisma associated with the post, not the person
• Professional ritualists interested in the status
  quo

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Three Types of Religious Leaders

• Prophet
• Highly charismatic figure
• Commanded by a super-ordinate other to declare a
  life-changing direction
• Often considered revolutionary
• Often mendicant in nature
• Two types
• Exemplary Prophet (teach by example)
• Ethical Prophet (teach a universal set of ethics)
• Followers must quickly routinize the charisma
  of the prophet into a congregation

40
Social Classes and Groups

• Unlike Marx, Weber assumed groups were formed on
  grounds other than economic separation and
  exploitation
• Location
• Vocation
• Education
• Honor
• Religion would need to reflect aspects of all the
  social groups
• This idea would explain the diversity of
  religions

41
Social Classes and Groups

• For instance, a poor, uneducated dirt farmer
  would require a religion that provided rain for
  the crops and a common sense approach to
  understanding the world.
• A warrior for a sultan would need a religion that
  would provide a motivation and reward for
  engaging in battle, perhaps seeing secular war as
  a reflection of a larger, spiritual one.

42
Social Classes and Groups

• With the exception of Confucianism, according to
  Weber, most prophetic religions have morphed into
  salvation religions
• The masses demand a savior figure while the
  educated may focus on more esoteric expressions
  of salvation, such as nirvana.
• The Savior Cult of the masses offer its
  followers the hope of a optimistic future, full
  of rewards
• The intellectual will look for a sense of
  enhanced personal meaning (perhaps considered
  another type of reward)

43
Belief and Behavior

• All communities need to address the question of
  theodicy
• If there is a just and good god/dess interested
  in human affairs, how can evil exist in the world
• Weber introduces three ideal types as responses
• This worldly future justice or outside this world
  future justice
• Humans can never know the answer to this question
• The opposition of two ultimate realities (good
  vs. bad, sentience vs. non-sentience, physical
  vs. spiritual)

44
Belief and Behavior

• The last two ideal types assumes humans cannot do
  anything to resolve the problem of theodicy the
  solution must come from a transcendental effort
• The first one assumes humans can bring about
  their own salvation
• Become a spiritual athlete who practice
  virtuoso sanctification through a highly
  ritualized life of asceticism
• Become a mystic who rejects the world and hence
  transcends it

45
Belief and Behavior

• Weber notes that many religions understand that
  humans cannot do anything to initiate or aid in
  their salvation (the anti-doctrine known as
  Pelagianism among Orthodox Christians)
• Available as institutional grace
• A response to a heartfelt, personal faith
• Predestination

46
Religion and Other Spheres

• So how does religion intersect with other aspects
  of society?
• Economics
• Politics
• Sexuality
• The arts
• Many religions understand the need to practices
  the giving of alms
• Calvin, however, maintained those persons who
  were capable of work and did not do so should
  receive nothing.

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Religion and Other Spheres

• Concerning the other spheres, Weber maintained
  the need for religions to seek compromises
• Recognize the independence of the state
• Recognize the erotic but seek to contain it
• Recognize the value of expression, but only when
  it focuses upon the sacred

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Weber's Quasi-Experimental Design in the Study of
Religion
Group Step 1Find "matched" societies in terms of their minimal conditions. Step 2Do historical research on their properties before stimulus introduced. Step 3Examine the impact of the key stimulus, religious beliefs. Step 4Use historical evidence to assess the impact of the stimulus. Step 5View differences between Europe, China, and India as caused by religious beliefs.
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL GROUP Western Europe Descriptions of Europe (using historical ideal types) Experiences stimulus with emergence of Protestantism Modern capitalism Western Europe is changed.

QUASI- CONTROL GROUP China Descriptions of China (using historical ideal types) Experiences no stimulus No capitalism China is much the same as before.

QUASI- CONTROL GROUP India Descriptions of India (using historical ideal types) Experiences no stimulus No capitalism India is much the same as before.