Max Weber was among the authors who most influenced sociology in the 20th century, as well as among the figures who helped institutionalize, disseminate, and define the method of the sociological discipline . Born in 1864 in Erfurt, Germany, he was a professor of political economy, a man of great erudition and vast personal culture, particularly attentive and interested in history, politics, economics, and sociology. During the war years, he participated in various diplomatic affairs, but above all, he was present at Versailles , when the peace terms were negotiated, as an expert on economic matters for the German delegation. A significant element of his biography was the nervous breakdown that forced him to abandon all intellectual activity between 1897 and 1901. He died in Munich in 1920.
The concept of Verstehen
Weber defined sociology through the German concept of “Understand”, as a science which therefore includes “It aims to understand, by virtue of an interpretative process, social action endowed with meaning and to explain it causally in its course and in its effects“. The object of Weberian sociology, therefore, is thesocial action with sense, defined as that action in which one is aware of the presence of others to which the actors attribute a subjective meaning, which the sociologist must understand and subsequently explain the causes in a manner similar to the other sciences. Weber's idea, however, is that it is not possible to find an exhaustive explanation for human phenomena. social reality represents a fabric with infinitely dense and extensive meshes, “a meaningless infinity" and includes a multiplicity of factors and a multi-dimensionality of causes such that it is impossible to establish unequivocally which phenomena determine others. The sociologist, to analyze society, can operate a selection of causal links, influences and conditions, which concern a certain phenomenon from his own point of view and according to his own orientations without however compromising theobjectivity of its construction, which is guaranteed by theself-evaluation of one's work, that is, in knowing how to avoid making value judgments regarding the phenomena he studies. He must then evaluate the selected elements to verify their ability to summarise the reality being examined.
With this methodological approach in Weberian sociology, an important reunification takes place between the so-called " human sciences ", characterised by an idiographic method, and the nomothetic " natural sciences ", previously separated on the methodological and cognitive level by Dilthey, so that the former could only attempt to interpret and understand the world but not give an objective and valid explanation, which only the field of natural sciences could offer.
Ideal types and different types of social action
The main tool of sociology for Weber is the ideal types: ideal constructs built through the extrapolation of recurring and common characteristics in multiple individual cases that help the social scientist understand reality and orient himself within it.
In his work “Economy and Society" of 1904, distinguishes 4 ideal types of social action in the infinity of social actions:
– rational action with respect to a goal . The type of action in which the subject has a clear goal and rationally organizes the means to achieve it, in relation to the possible consequences. This is the action at the basis of capitalism;
– rational action with respect to value . Action guided by the unconditional value of the action itself, sometimes without considering the consequences;
– affective action . The type of action dictated by emotions, mood, and feelings.
– traditional action . Those actions carried out on the basis of habit or custom.
Weber observes how in modern society we are witnessing a growing predominance of rational action over purpose, with a consequent decline of value-oriented actions, which he defines as “ rationalization ”.
The origins of capitalism
In his approach, Weber specifies the bonds of affinity and compatibility that exist between phenomena specific to one area and those specific to other areas, or conversely the blocking effects due to the absence of such bonds. He is particularly interested in explaining why capitalism arose and began to spread from a specific social and cultural area of Europe. In " The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ," he traces the genesis of this phenomenon to a specifically Western cultural disposition, one of whose causes lies in the Protestant religion , specifically Calvinism. For Weber, the predestination of souls has led individuals to a psychological state in which they seek every sign that confirms their destiny through dedication to work, which thus takes on a sacred meaning, making profession and continued earnings the vocation of every believer. Once underway, capitalism tends to lose its cultural foundations as it develops and spread mechanically, almost by force of inertia.
Valerio Adolini
