Max Weber Essay

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Max Weber Essay

Introduction

Human beings are social animals, no human is completely free or independent. Every person and even things on this planet Earth are dependent upon each other for their survival and growth. Since the initiation of human life on this blue planet, humans have been living in groups, tribes and communities. Sometimes these communities are organized and sometimes not much organized, but in every case, it has depicted the interdependence of the people on each other for survival and thriving. The study of how humans live in a society and interact with it and the members of the society is known as sociology. Max Weber was one of the most notable sociologists, philosopher, political economist and jurist has ever seen. The reason for which he got fame was his views on the economic sociology and sociology of religion. These views profoundly left a great impact on society and social research.

Discussion

Early Life and Works

Max Weber had a very troubled, to be more precise a very confused childhood. Weber was born to Max Weber Sr, and Helene (Fallenstein) in Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Prussia on April 21, 1864. The Weber family moved to Berlin shortly after his birth. He was the eldest of the seven children in his family. Max Weber’s father was an influential civil servant, politician and lawyer and his mother was a devout Calvinist.

The reason for his disturbed childhood was the complete opposite nature of his parents. Although, Max Weber belonged to a wealthy family, and his parents never let him cringe for anything, still his psychological development lacked many peaceful aspects. Weber’s father was a completely materialistic man who believed in earning more and more money. He led a hedonistic lifestyle indulged in social gatherings and partying. It is believed that he was stereotypically Victorian, and an arrogant man, who showed no emotions towards his wife. Contrary to this, his mother was a complete opposite of this. She believed in leading an ascetic and life of piety, and it was her puritanism beliefs that shaped his moral ethics.

Max Weber and Methodenstriet

Methodenstrist the intellectual history of the German-language discourse over the period of time. This phase started in 1180 and lasted for almost a decade. This was basically an economic controversy. In contrast to Durkheim, Max Weber dismissed the thought of objectivity and positivism since Human creatures, as opposed to objects have hidden inspirations and emotions, which may go amiss a Human from anticipated conduct. His focal thought of dismissing positivistic view is that not normal for objects, people have a cerebrum and they partner emotional importance to their activity. Investigation of Max Weber covers a wide region, however focal topic what I comprehend is 'subjectivity' which people may connect with their activity. That is the explanation dissimilar to numerous other social researchers, he gave impressive significance to the person's conduct, which most others like Durkheim in his investigation of 'Suicide' didn't consider of critical significance.

Definition of Sociology according to Max Weber and Various Methodologies

One of his most lasting contributions is his methodological work, some of which was only published after his death. Weber was part of the first value-dispute and was very active in debating questions such as the "logic" of the social sciences, what role value should have in research, and general epistemological questions. Sadly the intricacies of his thought have been somewhat lost on the ages, but his use of the "ideal-type" has lived on. Ideal types are theoretical constructions which serve as models of society. They are not meant to represent reality directly, but rather be a good stepping stone to an understanding of it.

Aside from such trivialities, Weber seems to have greatly influenced Karl Popper, though Popper himself rarely acknowledges it. Popper's "logic of the situation" is straight out of Weber's methodology, and so is his "methodological individualism", though this may be said to have several sources. Weber also advocated a version of falsificationism very similar to Popper. His "understanding" sociology, is actually an expression of the making of hypothesis, which was thereafter to be tested against hard data (Bratton). This contribution is almost invisible to us today because Popper didn't write about it. Besides his methodological work, his most famous contribution is about the protestant work ethic and the growth of capitalism. Both this and his work on religion helped, together with Durkheim and Marx to shape sociology's view of itself as interested in "grand shifts" and "religion".

Max Weber. Capitalism and Society

Weber’s thesis in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) is one of the best-known ideas in all of sociology, but most people who comment upon it oversimplify and even misrepresent it. Weber’s thesis is actually complex, subtle, and motivated by the very deep problem of understanding why the values and institutions of the modern world (individual freedom, the rule of law, secularism, democracy, market economics), though claiming universal validity, in fact, emerged only once in human history, and then within a very specific cultural context. I might add that Weber’s analysis sheds light on why those values and institutions, though by now ostensibly adopted throughout much of the world, fail in practice in a great many places.

The key idea in Weber’s thesis is that certain strands of Protestantism (Weber singles out Calvinism, the English non-conformist churches, and German Pietism) introduced the notion that asceticism, which had until then always been reserved for a spiritual élite of monks whose lives were entirely guided by other-worldly aspirations, was actually the universal calling of all good Christians, who ought to practice it in the course of ordinary lives that embraced worldly goals.

Modernity and the “Iron Cage”

Iron cage holds great value in the subject of sociology. It was a concept introduced specifically by Max Weber, in order to explain the hike in the rationalization that is inherited y the society in the social life. This idea has impacted humanism, prominently the human science of work and associations. It connects to basic ideas of control and the domineering intensity of a tip top to force a belief system and perspective which subsumes the person into an 'iron pen of subjugation'. This servitude is for Weber a characteristic result of innovation. Since with innovation comes administration. The accomplishment of organization is to create a 'specialized predominance' in light of the standard of law, workplaces of rule, a progressive system of authorities/officials all interlocked inside some tremendous, self-supporting, however an altogether sensible and reasonable machine. The individual is simply a cog in this impersonal, potentially tyrannical machine, in which case the best one can hope for is to become a bigger cog.

One might expect, Weber’s concept has been used especially effectively by (neo)Marxist theorists and connects nicely with the theories of, for example, Althusser, Gramsci, and the earlier Foucault. It also links with Kafka (The Trial, 1956). Whether one is a (neo) Marxist or not, it is entirely possible to see the ‘iron cage’ operational in most countries. Just don’t get trapped in it.

Conclusion

Hence, in a nutshell, it can be concluded that the contributions of Max Weber have proved to be guiding light in many areas. The famous sociologist presents this theory in all the areas of sociology, economics and religion and developed a link between them. Although Weber presented his theories a long time ago in these areas, still these ideas are considered valid and many great experts, scholars, philosophers and researchers take help from them in order to mold and put forward their research.

Works Cited:

Bratton, John, and David Denham. Capitalism and classical social theory. University of Toronto Press, 2014.