Max Weber Key Themes, Part I
I. Defining sociology as an intellectual discipline
A. Purposes
1. formulate analytic concepts and models, identify
recurring patterns
2. not abstract theorizing, concepts to be derived
from observable, empirical historical processes
B. “Verstehen” – “Understanding”
1. researchers can come to understand what we study (we are human, as are our “subjects”)
2. also the understandings reached between and among people making social interaction possible
3. Understanding at both the macro (cultural/societal) and micro (individual/small group) levels
C. Ideal types
1. analytical models, capturing the essential and logically necessary features of social phenomena
2. used for purposes of comparison across time & society
3. ideal = logical, not moral, category
4. ideal types as building blocks of theory
D. Values
1. emphasized value neutrality in teaching
a. unethical for teachers to impose their values on captive audience
2. also emphasized value neutrality in the gathering and reporting of research data
a. science cannot decide values-based issues
3. researchers can & should, however, choose what they study on the basis of value relevance
II. Key Themes/Substantive Sociology
A. Social Action (“Behavior guided by the meanings people attach to their behavior and to the
situation.”) Four types (N.B. these constitute an ideal type):
1. Means-ends action (others as the means to one’s own goals)
2. Value-based action (belief in the intrinsic value of the behavior; the right thing to do)
3. Affectual action (guided by emotion)
4. Traditional action (it’s how I’ve always behaved; it’s customary)
B. Stratification: Three dimensions (corresponding to three scarce resources)
1. Class (& Class situation)
a. Scarce resource is wealth
b. class situation = shared situation in terms of “life chances”
i. shared situation = roughly the same degree of access to and control over $ and the
opportunity to get more $
2. Status
a. scarce resource is honor/prestige
b. related to groups of people with a shared “lifestyle” (consumption)
3. “Party” (political parties: groups of people organized to seize the power of the state)
a. scarce resource = power
C. Types of Authority (another ideal type)
1. Power (Domination) vs. Authority
a. Power = the ability to have one’s own will prevail,
even in the face of opposition from
others
b. Authority = Legitimate Power
i. legitimacy = power exercised with the consent of those subject to that power
2. Three bases of legitimacy
a. Traditional: established belief in the sanctity of traditions
b. Rational-Legal: belief in the legality of rules
c. Charismatic: devotion to the exceptional qualities of leaders (heroism, sanctity, special powers)