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Max Weber

Max Weber was a German sociologist who lived from 1864-1920. He is considered one of the founders of modern sociology. Some of his most influential works include The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Economy and Society. Weber developed sociology as a science of social action, focusing on subjective meanings and mutual orientations between actors. He defined sociology as the interpretive understanding of social action to arrive at causal explanations. Weber analyzed types of social action including rational-purposeful action, value-rational action, affective action, and traditional action. His theories of social action and ideal types had a significant impact on the development of sociology.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
46 views11 pages

Max Weber

Max Weber was a German sociologist who lived from 1864-1920. He is considered one of the founders of modern sociology. Some of his most influential works include The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Economy and Society. Weber developed sociology as a science of social action, focusing on subjective meanings and mutual orientations between actors. He defined sociology as the interpretive understanding of social action to arrive at causal explanations. Weber analyzed types of social action including rational-purposeful action, value-rational action, affective action, and traditional action. His theories of social action and ideal types had a significant impact on the development of sociology.
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Max Weber (1864-1920) 5.

9. On Charisma nad Institution Building-1968


10. Economy and Society-1968 (In three volumes).
Weber's contribution to the development of Sociology and
social thought has been enormous. In all this writings he has
tried his level best to maintain his objectivity, neutrality,
analytical approach, historical insight and scientific fervour.
Prof. Temasheff says, Max Weber could be considered one of the
greatest sociologists of the 20th century. Because Weber has
demonstrated that much can be achieved by using the ldeal type'
procedure in social science. He has contributed greatly to the
understanding of social causation : in human affairs. He has made
painstaking study of concrete social situations and processes that must
form the foundation of any adequate sociological theory.
Raymond Aron has remarked, Weber was a man who was asking to
himself the ultimate questions
"the relations between knowledge and faith, science and action, the
church and prophecy, bureaucracy and charismatic leader, rationalization
and personal freedom ...." More than that he was a man with great historic
erudition who "searched all civilizations for the answers to his own
questions..."

THE THEORY OF SOCIAL ACTION

Max Weber conceived of sociology as a comprehensive


science of social action. His primary focus was on the subjective
meanings that human actors attach to their actions in their
mutual orientations within specific socio-historical contexts.
Coser says, "In his analytical focus on individual human actors
he differed from many of his predecessors whose sociology was
conceived in socio-cultural terms'. Max Weber began with the
idea of social action to make of sociology a scientific enquiry.
Thus the idea of action is central to Max Weber's sociology. For
Weber the combined qualities of "action' and "meaning' were the
central facts for sociology's scientific analysis. Weber defined
sociology is, "the interpretative understanding of social action in
order thereby to arrive at causal explanation of its courses and
effects." Action in Webers analysis is all human behaviour to
which an actor attaches subjective meaning. According to
5.4 Max Weber (1864-1920)

Weber "Action is social, in sofar as by virtue of the subjective


meaning attached to it by the acting individual It takes
account of the behaviour of others and thereby oriented in its
COurse."

Weber was particularly interested in how social action is


often conceptualized by social actors in terms of means-ends
chains. For instance, a large bureaucratic organization will
organize the activity of social individuals by assigning each
worker a particular role in a hierarchy. The responsibilities
associated with this role are rules, or norms, that serve as
means to the ends served by the bureaucracy. These norms
serve tO make organized social action possible; that is they
routinize and formalize social interaction among individuals
who, for whatever reason are committed to serving the
organization.
According to Weber, there are three key terms :
(i) Deuten
(ii) Verstehen
(iii) Erklaren
Deutento interpret, to grasp the significance or subjective
meaning.
Verstehen-to comprehend, to organise the subjective
meaning of humnan actions into concepts.
Erklaren-Ho explain causally, or reveal the constants of
human behaviour.

The primary task of sociology is the study of social action.


Sociology studies the different aspects of human behaviour
particularly meaning, purpose and value of the human
behaviour.

Max Weber observes that social action is that action of an


individual which is somehow influenced by the action and
behaviour of other individuals and by which it is modified and
its direction is determined. Weber writes, "A correct causal
interpretation of concrete course of action, is arrived at when
the overt action and the motives have both been correctly
Max Weber (1864-1920)
5.5

apprehended and at the same time their relation has become


meaningfully comprehensible.
Characteristics of Social Action
The significant characteristics of Weber's ideas are as
follows :
1. Social action may be influenced by an action of past,
present or future.
2. Social action presupposes the existence of other
individual and some action by him.
3. Necessity of subjective meaning.
4. It is oriented in its
course.
Weber's focus on the mutual orientation of social actors and
on the "understandable motives of their actions was anchored
in methodological considerations, which account for much of
the distinctiveness of his approach.
Social action may be influenced by the action of past,
present and future. So social action is a result or a modification
of some action of other person or persons.
Social action presupposes the existence of other individual
and some action by him. This means there can be no social
action in isolation. Therefore social action is possible if there is
another human being whose action or behaviour is prompting to
the giving individual to act in a particular manner.
In asocial act it is necessary that it should have subjective
meaning. A blind imitation without any understanding of the
nature of act being imitated is not social action. Weber's
primary focus was on the subjective meanings that human
actors attach to their actions in their mutual orientations within
specific socio-historical contexts. Behaviour devoid of such
meaning falls outside the purview of sociology. "Action is Social'
Weber says. According to Weber, it is action when man assigns
a certain meaning to his conduct and the action is social when,
by the meaning he gives it, it relates to the behaviour of other
persons and is oriented towards their behaviour.
5.6 Max Weber (1864-1920)

For Weber human action is social in so far as the acting


individual attaches asubjective meaning to it. Mere behaviour
becomes action when it derives dealings with others and when
it is meaningful; that is oriented in its course. The basic
requirement is that the actor is aware of what he or she is doing
which can be analysed in terms of their intentions, motives and
feelings as they are experienced.

Types of Social Action


At the heart of Weber's sociology is an investigation of the
Consequences of types of social action and a study of how these
types of action come into conflict and create tensions for
specific individuals. Weber pointed out that in many traditional
societies individuals live highly routinized lives wherein
everyday ceremonies are generally seen as ends in themselves.
This type of action is very different from the action of modern
individuals who have to adopt a great many highly specific roles
that require them constantly to shift perceptions and
allegiances. For the moden individual the ultimate ends of
action are often far removed from the specific rules and norms
that guide everyday behaviour. In order to clarify the important
differences among types of social action and differentiate
between rational and non-rational action, Weber developed the
following typology :

Types of Social Action

Rationally Value Affective Traditional


Purposeful Rational Action Action
Action action

(Zweckrational (Wertrational Classified Classified


action) action) according to under the
affectional influence of
With reference With reference Orientation CustomsS
to goals to and habits
Values

Four major types of social action are distinguished in


Weber's sociology. Men may engage in purposeful or goal
Max Weber (1864-1920)
5.7
oriented rational action
may be (Zweckrational); their rational action
emotional value-oriented
or affective (wertrational);
motivations,
they may act trom
or finally they may
traditional action. engage in

Rational-purposeful Action :
This action may be rationally
expedient if it is based on
logical or scientific grounds, This action
plurality of means and entails a complicated
ends. The ends of
goals, values) are either taken as means action (for example
to the fulfilment of
other ends, or are treated as if they are set in
way action becomes purely concrete. In this
Compare two individuals whoinstrumental. Example: If we
are trying to maximize their
income over the course of a year, we might find that one
uses far more effective means to achieve this person
goal than the
other. He might cheat on his tax return, take a
sell drugs to workmates. We would describe the second job or
individuals as
more purposively rational than one who acquires and keeps less
money. Within the domain of zweck-rational action it is possible
to compare the degrees of rationality that various individuals
exhibit. In the above example, it is assumed that all individuals
will want to maximise their income. This goal is fixed and it is
also a means to other goals for example buying a new car,
spending vacation in some hill stations, moving around
European Countries etc.
Classical economic theory treats individuals as if they were
rationally purposeful. According to this theory, individuals will
always try to maximize their utility. According to Weber, action
cannot be meaningful unless it is goal oriented. Rational action
in relation to agoal corresponds roughly to Pareto's logical
action. It is the action of the engineer who is building a bridge
or the General who wants to win a victory. In all these cases
Zweckrational action is distinguished by the fact that the actor
conceives his goal clearly and combines means with a view to
attaining it.
Value-rational Action : Action is rational in relation to a
specific value. This action occurs when individuals use rational -
that is effective means to achieve goals or ends that are defined
5.8 Max Weber (1864-1920)

in tems of subjective meaning. According to Weber, when


individuals are value rational. they make commitments to
certain subjective goals and adopt means that are effective in
attaining these ends. Here, means are chosen for their efficiency
but the ends are determined by value. For example, a soldier
laying down his life for the countr. His action is not directed
towards attaining specific material goal like wealth. It is for the
sake of certain values like honour and patriotism.
Weber's differentiation between the two basic types ol
rational action is of greatest importance. The first is the means
end rationality. The action that is determined by expectations as
to the behaviour of objects in the enviornment and other
human beings. These expectations are used as 'conditions' or
means for the attainment of the actors own rationally pursued
and calculated ends. The second is value rationality, or action
that is determined by a consious belief in the value for its own
sake of some ethical, aesthetic, religious or other forms of
behaviour, independently of its prospects for success.
Affective Action : Affective action fuses means and ends
together sothat action becomes emotional and impulsive. Such
action is the antithesis of rationality because the actor
concerned cannot make a calm, dispassonate assessement of
the relationship between the ends of action and the means that
supposedly exist to serve these ends. Rather the means
themselves are emotionally fulfilling and become ends in
themselves.
This kind of action results from the emotional state of mind
of the actor. If some one is teasing a girl in a bus, she may get
so irritated that she may slap the offending person. She has
been provoked so much that she has reacted violently. In this
example, the action is defined not with reference to agoal or
system of values, but by the emotional reaction of an actor
placed in a given set of circumstances.
Traditional Action : Traditional action occurs when the
ends and the means of action are fixed by custom and tradition.
Por example, some so-called primitive societies have very strict
rites of succession for group leaders. What is important about
traditional action is that the ends of action are taken for granted
Max Weber (1864-1920) 5.9

and appcar to be natural to the actors concerned because they


are unable to comprehend the possibility of alternative ends.
This is an action which is quided by customs and long standing
beliets which become second nature or habit.. In traditional
Indian Society doing 'pranam' or 'namaskar' to elders is almost
second nature needing no prompting

SOCIAL ACTIONS AT A GLANCE


1. Rationally-Purposeful action. It is the social action, that
is instrumentally oriented. It occurs when the ends of action are
seen as means to higher, taken-for-granted ends.
2. Value-rational action, It occurs when individuals use
effective means to achieve goals that are set by their values.
3. Affective action. Emotional and impulsive action that is
an end in itself.
4. Tradtional action. It occurs when the ends and means of
social action are fixed by custom and tradition. Action is so
habitual that it is taken for granted.
This classification of types of action serves Weber in two
ways. It permits him to make systematic typological distinctions,
for example between types of authority and also provides a
basis for his investigation of the course of western historical
development. Raymond Aron rightly sees Weber's work as "the
paradigm of a sociology which is both historical and systematic."
Weber was primarily concerned with modern western society, in
which as he saw it, behaviour had come to be dominated
increasingly by goal-oriented rationality, whereas in earlier
periods it tended to be motivated by tradition, affect or value
oriented rationality.

Stages of Social Action


Weber has described various stages of social action relating
to various types.
These are :
1. Rational-purposeful stage
5.10
Max Weber (1864-1920)
2. Valuational stage
3. Emotional stage
4. Traditional stage

Rational-purposeful
covered are primarily quidedstage. In this
stage the
by reason and discrimination. The
actions

pursuit oT goals is a corollary of the


inyolves consiousness of ends or qoals.facts, the rational choice
Valuational ststage.
Religious and ethical actions Come
under this category. In this stage the actions prevailing, are
pertaining to values.
Emotional stage. An emotional reaction to the action of
others Comes under this stage. Here there is expression of ove,
hatred, sympathy, compassion or pity in response to the
behaviour of other individuals prevail.
Traditional stage. This stage is characterised by long
standing customs, traditions and usages. So all those actions
which are guided and determined by customs and traditions are
covered under this category.
Raymond Aron writes the above classification of action has
been argued, elaborated and refined.
1. Weber conceives of sociology as a comprehensive
science of social action. The typology of actions is
therefore the most abstract level of the conceptual
system applicable to the social field.
2. Sociology is a comprehensive science of action. Here
comprehension implies an understanding of the
meaning man gives to his conduct. Weber's aim is to
understand the meaning each man gives his own
conduct, SO that it becones essential to the
comprehension of subjective meanings to proceed to a
classification of types of conduct.
3. The classification of types of action to a certain extent
governs the Weberian interpretation of the
contemporary era. According to Weber the prime
characteristic of the world we live in is rationalization.
Rationalization is expressed by a widening of the sphere
Max Weber (1864-1920) 5.11

of zweckrational action, the rational action in relation to


goals. Economic enterprise is rational, so is thecontrol
of the state by
bureaucracy.
4. The classification of action according to Max Weber may
be co-related with the relations of solidarity or
indepedence between science and politics.
According to Weber, "Interpretative sociology, considers ne
individuals and his action as the basic unit as its atom." The individual IS
the upper unit and the sole carrier of meaninaful conduct. Concepts liKe
"state," association, feudalism etc are certain categories of human
interaction. Hence Weber concludes: "it is the task of sociology to reuu
to the
these concepts to understandable action, that is without exception,
actions of participating individual men."
substantive sociological
When we come to examine Weber's
does sociology.
writings i.e. those writings in which he actually
methodological individualist. Turner
we find that Weber is not a themes in Weber's work
explains the contradiction between two
well.
role of the active individual
The overt empahsis is on the
meaning. The covert theme is that
who constructs and creates
meanings of actions is to be found in
the ultimate origin of the these absolute values dig
charismatic religious movements and
graves with the inevitable logic of fate. Thus Turner
their own a
Suggests that "in fact Weber's pessimism produces
sociology in which the intentions of social actors
deteministic
fate."
are overtaken by historical
relationship" to describle
Weber coined the concept 'social intentional, meaningful
patterned human interaction which is
wrote, they said, there are
and symbolic", Abraham and Morgan
as modes of orientation
six types of social relations designated as 'patterns of human
of social action. Weber thought of these normative
behaviour attributable to the recognition of defined by
expectations. The six types have been identified and
Larson:
1. Usage
2. Custom
3. Rational Orientation
5.12 Max Weber (1864-1920)

4. Fashion
5. Convention
6. Law.
1. Usage: described behaviour performed simply to conform
to a style of pattern, for exanmple, social etiquette.
2. Custom: described habitual Dractices with roOts n
antiquity.
3. Rational orientation: desianated that variety of social
action which is consequence of actors orienting themselvesS to
one another on the basis of similar ulterior expectations, for
example mutual self-interest.
4. Fashion: described social action which is the result of
adherence to contemporary fad.
5. Convention: designated that type of social action
performed in recognition of strong moral obligation in the
manner of Sumner's mores.
6. Law: described that type of social action performed in
recognitionof codified expectation and restriction.
Sociology concerns the rationality of individual and collective
behaviour. It is the science of human action "both
comprehensive and explicative. Weber has 'a kind of existential
philosophy." He wants to know the manner men live, here and
now. According to him sociology is deeply connected with
history and with culture.
Criticisms: Weber's theory of social action especially his
typology of social action has encountered severe criticisms.
1. Talcott Parsons criticises Weber for stressing too
much the element of voluntary subjective meaning of
the actor. For Parsons, the action of an actor is
involuntary: it is behaviour directed by the meanings
attached by actors to things and people.
2. A. Schultz criticises Weber for not providing a
satisfactory account of meaningful action since if
meaning is too much divorced from the actor it
becomes an objective category imposed by the
sociologists.
Max Weber (1864-1920)
5.13
3. According to P.S.
action Cohen, Weber's typology of social
is
confusing due to Weber's emphasis on
Subjective meaningof the actor. Cohen explains with an
example of traditional action whereby a
tribute to his chief because it is commoner pays
II the commoner can aive no customary.
payment other than that it other reason for making the
has
may be treated as non-rational.always been so then the conduct
It may be called rational, if he
gives as his reason for pavment that the chief is the
people and hence entitled to tribute. It may be father the
of
the goal of pleasing the chief is a valued value-rationa
end and the means
adopted produces the desired result. It may be goal-rational -
the tribute has always been paid because it
and enables one to obtain the favour from himpleases the chiet
and the failure
to pay may displease the chief and induce him to
offender. punish the
To this Weber might reply that whether the
commoner can
give reason for payment or not, he will make it because he has
considered no alternative.
Despite the above shortcomings Weber's theory of social
action has inspired sociologists of subsequent generations.

SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION: MAX WEBER


Preface
Religion being a pervasive and universal
rooted in human beings. It is not just a strictinstitution
is deeply
exerts a tremendous influence upon all otherinstitution but also
institutions. Many
sociologists and anthropologists were fascinated by the mystic
side of religion. Weber therefore was no exception. What
was concerned within the sociology of religion was not Weber
on everyday life, on political, administrative, economic religion
moral behaviour in different historical situtions that he triedand to
understand and reduce to order. His study says that religion
which isbased on cultural needs of man has now added new
dimensions to human life and human development. Weber
suggested that the protestant institution and its ethics has

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