The concept of rationality in the sociology of Max Weber and its impact on modern social sciences

2021 ◽  
Vol - (1) ◽  
pp. 37-56
Author(s):  
Anatolii Yermolenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Werner Sombart ◽  
Formal Rationality ◽  
Communicative Theory ◽  
German Sociology ◽  
Integral Feature

The paper analyzes Max Weber’s concepts of rationality and rationalization as components of modernization processes in modern society. The author reconstructs Weber’s interpretation of “spiritual factors” of social development, which emerge in the ethos of Protestantism. The research demonstrates how Weber’s study of capitalism in terms of rationality corresponds with concepts of other classics of German sociology, such as Ferdinand Tönnies, Werner Sombart, Georg Simmel and others. The article emphasizes the relevance of Weber’s sociology for XX— XXI centuries and how its basic concepts and methodological approaches have been further developed by scholars, including Ukrainian ones. Weber’s concept of rationality is applicable not only to the mental-epistemological sphere, it also acquires a social meaning. This approach has gained recognition in phenomenological sociology, theory of social systems, communicative theory and more. In addition to the formal rationality of the economy, modern social sciences use such concepts as social, aesthetic, ethical, environmental, and practical rationality. Weber’s “diagnosis of the age” is still a component of the “diagnosis” of modern society. The gap between values and interests remains an integral feature of the “risks and threats society” in the XXI century. This situation is especially evident in international relations, when “real politics” (Realpolitik), based on interests, becomes insensitive to “value postulates”. The author also discovers ways of value (moral and ethical) reclamation of modern society, particularly in the concepts of “ethical economy”, universalist ethics of discourse, global ethos and more. Keywords: purposive rationality, rationality (formal, material, communicative, systemic), value, ethos.

scholarly journals The implications of nostalgia in German modern sociology

Sociologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236
Author(s):  
Ana Petrov
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Social Loss ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Traditional Communities

In this article, I deal with nostalgia as an implicit category in the 19th-century German sociological discourses. I draw on the approaches that argue that sociology can be seen as a nostalgic social science since the sociologists? discourses were focused on the issues of causes, characteristics, and consequences of the modern age for individuals and society. Trying to explicate modern society, usually by comparing it to the premodern forms of social order, modern sociologists shaped dichotomous categories that were used for the definition of basic sociological concepts, one of the typical ones being the dichotomy between modern society and traditional communities. I here argue that modern sociologists constructed their theories in relation to the idea of a lack or loss, i.e. in relation to the question of what the modern society left behind during its growth: community, spirit or freedom. An alternative, a solution, or simply a utopian object for making comparison are found exactly in the object that is lost - in the nostalgic reflection on those aspects of humanity that were no longer possible in the modern age. Hence, I argue that modern sociology can be defined as a certain discourse on social loss. This will be elaborated on the examples of theories of Ferdinand Tonnies, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel.

Relevance of Max Weber’s Rational Bureaucratic Organizations in Modern Society

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Sanket Sunand Dash ◽  
Mousumi Padhi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Rational Character ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Cross National ◽  
Bureaucratic Organizations

Despite evolution of management thought, Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy continues to be a classical theory whose prescriptive elements guide the nature of organizations and their structures and processes. In the wake of information, communication and technological revolution which is reshaping the structure and processes in modern day organizations, the paper re-examines the basic premises and constructs of Max Weber’s rational bureaucratic organizations and their relevance today. Weber’s contribution to social sciences in general and organization studies in particular, is both methodological as well as empirical. The paper discusses the context in which Max Weber originally propounded his theory. In so doing, the paper also draws similarities of his theory with that proposed by other management thinkers of his time. Few examples of modern-day organizations and also different cross-national contexts are examined to discuss the present-day relevance of Weber’s postulates. It is suggested that despite the ever-present portents of its demise, bureaucracy will continue to guide the dominant form of organizations in the near future because of its inherent rational character.

scholarly journals SURGIMIENTO Y RUPTURA DE LA SOCIOLOGÍA ALEMANA: ENTRE EL IMPERIO, LA REPÚBLICA Y EL RÉGIMEN NAZI

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hellmut Wollmann
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Werner Sombart ◽  
Siglo Xx

El artículo describe la emergencia y ruptura de la sociología alemana desde sus inicios a principios del siglo XX hasta 1933 en la Universidad en Berlín, fundada en 1810 y desde entonces centro del mundo universitario alemán. Durante su fase inicial, fue modelada por Gustav Schmoller, un típico economista de corte reformista (de la “Escuela Histórica”). El despliegue disciplinario posterior de la sociología fue promovido por una cohorte de graduados, entre los cuales se destacaron Max Weber, Georg Simmel y Werner Sombart. Tras su florecimiento durante la década del veinte, fue “brutalmente interrumpido” (René König) cuando los nazis tomaron el poder, empujando a casi todos estos sociólogos al exilio o a la “emigración interna”. Desde 1933, una nueva cohorte ocupó la escena universitaria, suministrando, por medio del instituto universitario de Berlín y de su vinculación con la SS, la base ideológica y “científica” de las políticas expansionistas y genocidas.

scholarly journals El surgimiento y ruptura de la sociología alemana: entre el Imperio, la República y el régimen nazi

2014 ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
Hellmut Wollmann
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Werner Sombart ◽  
Siglo Xx

El artículo describe la emergencia y ruptura de la sociología alemana desde sus inicios a principios del siglo XX hasta 1933 en la Universidad en Berlín, fundada en 1810 y desde entonces centro del mundo universitario alemán. Durante su fase inicial, fue modelada por Gustav Schmoller, un típico economista de corte reformista (de la “Escuela Histórica”). El despliegue disciplinario posterior de la sociología fue promovido por una cohorte de graduados, entre los cuales se destacaron Max Weber, Georg Simmel y Werner Sombart. Tras su florecimiento durante la década del veinte, fue “brutalmente interrumpido” (René König) cuando los nazis tomaron el poder, empujando a casi todos estos sociólogos al exilio o a la “emigración interna”. Desde 1933, una nueva cohorte ocupó la escena universitaria, suministrando, por medio del instituto universitario de Berlín y de su vinculación con la SS, la base ideológica y “científica” de las políticas expansionistas y genocidas.

The Interdisciplinary Functional-Dynamic Approach to the Analysis of the Political System of Modern Society

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
D. V. Bobrov ◽  
A. A. Shulus ◽  
F. F. Farisov
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political System ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Dynamic Approach ◽  
Communication Subsystems ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Technological Communication

The authors analyze different approaches to the study of the political system of society (PSO) in various social sciences. The prospects of an interdisciplinary study of PSO based on the llocation of several subsystems with various functions are substantiated. The characteristic of various functional subsystems of the PSO is given, among them: institutional, regulatory, ideological, technological, communication subsystems

Esteem and self-esteem as an interweaving polarity. Max Weber´s analysis from the Protestant ethic to the ideal-type of politician

Human Affairs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-364
Author(s):  
Cristiana Senigaglia
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Protestant Ethic ◽  
Social Reputation ◽  
Conduct Of Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractAlthough Max Weber does not specifically analyze the topic of esteem, his investigation of the Protestant ethic offers interesting insights into it. The change in mentality it engendered essentially contributed to enhancing the meaning and importance of esteem in modern society. In his analysis, Weber ascertains that esteem was fundamental to being accepted and integrated into the social life of congregations. Nevertheless, he also highlights that esteem was supported by a form of self-esteem which was not simply derived from a good social reputation, but also achieved through a deep and continual self-analysis as well as a strict discipline in the ethical conduct of life. The present analysis reconstructs the different aspects of the relationship between social and self-esteem and analyzes the consequences of that relationship by focusing on the exemplary case of the politician’s personality and ethic.

Sociology, Protestant Theology, and the Concept of Modern Religion: William Robertson Smith and the ‘Scientification’ of Religion

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 335-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dietrich Jung
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Functional Differentiation ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Humanities And Social Sciences ◽  
William Robertson

This article looks at the intersection between Protestant theology and sociology in the construction of the modern concept of religion. Set against the theoretical background of the functional differentiation of modern society, it identifies the origin of this concept in the discursive ‘scientification’ of religion by the emerging disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. In taking the life and work of William Robertson Smith (1846–94) as an example, the article analyzes the transformation of some specific elements of liberal Protestant theology into a set of universal features that came to represent religion as a modern concept. In this way, it argues against confusing the modern concept of religion with a ‘Christian model’ as such, and also against rejecting the concept as a mere ideological tool of secularist ideologies.

Max Weber as an Economist: Revisiting Max Weber’s Legacy 100 Years after His Passing

2020 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-222
Author(s):  
Marek Louzek
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Ideal Type ◽  
Methodological Individualism ◽  
The Third ◽  
Value Neutrality ◽  
The Ideal

This article presents Max Weber as an economist and as a social scientist. Weber’s relations to economics, philosophy and sociology are discussed. Max Weber has more in common with economists than it might seem at first sight. His principle of value neutrality has become the foundation of the methodology of social sciences, including economics. The second point shared by Max Weber with standard economics is methodological individualism. The third point which a modern economist can learn from Max Weber is the concept of the ideal type.

Charisma and social phenomenology: Gerda Walther, Herman Schmalenbach and Aron Gurwitsch

2021 ◽  
pp. 1468795X2110496
Author(s):  
Dominik Zelinsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Emotional Dimension ◽  
The Social ◽  
Charismatic Authority ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Aron Gurwitsch ◽  
Social Phenomenology

This paper explores the contribution of early social phenomenologists working in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany to charisma theory. Specifically, I focus on the works of Gerda Walther, Herman Schmalenbach and Aron Gurwitsch, whose work is now being re-appreciated in the field of social philosophy. Living in the interbellum German-speaking space, these authors were keenly interested in the issue of charismatic authority and leadership introduced into the social sciences by Max Weber, with whom they engaged in an indirect intellectual dialogue. I argue that their phenomenological background equipped them well to understand the intricacies of the experiential and emotional dimension of charisma, and that their insights remain valid even a century after they have been first published.

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