webers fun facts/beliefs
- Capitalism as a secular world order
- core Issue of Modern Society: The choices of Values
- Scientific Development and Progress cannot be the core of social life
- Need to study society by being attentive to ‘inconvenient facts’
Webers core values
- Value neutrality
- Rationality
- Bureaucratic ethics
- Individual responsibility
- Justice and Legitimacy
- Diversity/Plurality of value systems
Social action
- Weber argued that sociology should study individuals action and the meaning they attach to them
Rational social action: adopting the most scientific logical way of performing something; highest efficiency (thinking before doing)
Non-rational social action: spontaneous behavior (doing before thinking)
Types of rational action
- instrumental rational action: strategically justified social action, by rational scientific assessment, actions guided by goals and calculated efficiency
- Value rational actions: pursue actions performed because of commitment to particular value system driven by ethical, cultural or religious values)
The protestant ethic and the spirit capitalism
- In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber linked religion and economic behavior:
- Protestant values like hard work, frugality, and discipline helped shape modern capitalism
- Religion can influence social structure, culture, and economic development, not just the other way around (as Marx emphasized)
- Protestant ethic as the fulcrum of capitalist society
- Sacrificing and saving for the future
- Adaptation of a rational attitude towards life
- Rational and methodical self-control, and discipline
- Avoiding spontaneous enjoyment
The development of capitalism according to weber
After-life anxiety → hard work → savings and accumulation → capitalism
Central points about capitalism
- Capitalism as the pursuit of forever renewed profit by means of rational capitalist enterprise
- Spirit of capitalism is the calling to make more money and positions money as end in itself
- Positioning to work hard for one’s own sake as a sign of salvation
Types of society
Modern society
- Rational and legal authority
- Impersonal rules and laws
Traditional society
- Non ration authority
- Habits, traditions and emotions dominate
Actions as a sociological category (Behaviour, action and social action)
Behaviour: doing something devoid of conscious meanings or goals← doing something just because
Falling down the stairs
Action: instances of behaviours when the individual has a goal in mind or when the behaviours us a meaningful for the acting person ← doing something for intentional purpose
Running cause your late for class
Social action: action is social in so far as, virtue of the subjective meaning attached to it by the acting individual(s), it takes account of the behaviour of others and is thereby oriented in its course ← an action that is done while thinking of the behaviors and reaction of others or an action that is dependent on the actions of others
Running with someone
Each category follows the previous, weber said we only need to study social action
Max Weber said that the analysis of a situation by putting yourself in the perspective of a group or an individual is called methodological individualism
Action Orientations
Tradition/ habit orientated action: behavior guided by customs, habits, or long-established traditions.
People act this way because “it’s how things have always been done.”
The action is automatic and not deeply thought through.
Affect orientated action:behavior driven by feelings or emotional states.
The action happens because of anger, love, excitement, jealousy, etc.
It is often spontaneous and not calculated.
Value orientated action: (Wertrational) is behavior guided by a strong belief in moral, ethical, religious, or cultural values, regardless of the outcome.
The person acts because they believe the action is right or meaningful, not because it will necessarily succeed.
Rational action: behavior guided by logic, planning, and calculation of the most efficient means to achieve a goal.
The person analyzes options and chooses the most effective method.
Always increases efficiency
Ex. someone comes to class early to set up their computer, get a godd seat, sit with friends
For a society to be a modern society it has to be dictated by rational action, if it is dictated by the other three it is likely a traditional society
Power vs authority
Power: the chances that an individual can carry in with desired actions despite resistance
Authority: efficacy on the command-obidience relationship
Every social action is related to certain structures of domination
Types of authority
Rational authority: based on impersonal and rationally established laws and rules. Usually found in modern societies
Non-rational authority: based on personal or group characteristics. Usually found in traditional societies
Rational authority and bureacracy
- Impersonal authority and form of organization
- Hierarchy of positions and division of labour based on specific competencies
- Contractual relationships
- Open recruitment based on qualifications, merit and expertise
- Appointed not elected (weber believed president are non-rational authority because they are elected)
- Fixed salaries/benefits
Non rational authourity and charismatic leadership
- Individualistic authority based in personal characteristics that help them develop personal authority to generate mass following (popular prime ministers)
- Can co exist along other forms of legal and rational authority
- Charismatic community formed by members shared emotional attachment
- It is usually temporary
Social stratification (max weber version)
- Social class - based on one’s life chances
- Life chances - the position of an individual with respect to the society determined by combination of one’s social class, social status and labour market opportunity
- Social status - the social position of an individual based on prestige, communal honor, and political power
What are the three factors in Weberian social stratification
Class - economic
Status - cultural
Party - power/authority
how does Max Weber relate to alienation?
Weber didn’t directly focus on alienation, but described a similar idea:
- Society becomes more rationalized (focused on efficiency, rules)
- Growth of bureaucracy (rigid systems, little individuality)
- People feel trapped in an “iron cage” of control
Focus is on loss of freedom and meaning, not just economics
What is Verstehen?
Verstehen means interpretive (empathetic) understanding of social action:
- Focuses on the meanings, intentions, and motivations behind behavior
- Emphasizes seeing the world from the actor’s point of view
- Views humans as active agents shaping society through interaction
- Encourages putting yourself in someone else’s shoes
➡️ Contrasts with Émile Durkheim, who focused on objective social facts
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August Comte6
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Herbert Spencer5
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Harriet Martineau1
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Karl Marx21
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Max weber18
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Emilie Durkheim11
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Georg Simmel11
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Erving Goffman3
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George Herbert Mead10
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Herald Garfinkle1
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Peter Berger4
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Talcott Parsons7
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Antonio Gramsci6
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Robert Merton9
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Charles Horton Cooley4
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Intro to Sociology19
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Class10
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Communication and Social Development13
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Social Inequality6
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Culture10
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Race22
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Gender8
