April 5, 2019: Max Weber ● (1915-1918) Weber served as a

member and consultant in various

“Founding Father of Sociology”
German Supremacist
groups/committees.
Early Life
● (1918-1919) Resumed Teaching at
● Maximillian Karl Emil Weber was
the University of Vienna, and the
born April 21, 1864, Erfurt, Prussia
University of Munich
● German sociologist, political
● (1920) Contracted the Spanish Flu
economist, and politician.
and died of Pneumonia at the age
● Weber was the eldest son of 7 of
of 56 on June 14 in Munich,
Max and Helene Weber.
Germany.
○ Mother: Devout Protestant
○ Father: Politician
Context
● Father adopted a traditionally
● Time of Revolution
authoritarian manner at home and
○ Unification of German
demanded absolute obedience from
speaking states in 1871:
wife and children.
Multiple wars and rise of
nationalism.
Education
○ Industrial Revolution
● University of Heidelberg in 1882
■ Expansion and
as a law student, interrupting his
industrialization of
studies after two years to fulfill his
cities.
year of military service at
■ Take over of the
Strassburg
aristocracy as the
● Finished his studies at the
prevailing social
University of Berlin
power by
bureaucrats.
Occupation and Later Life
○ Conflict between Junkers
● (~1887-1892) Apprenticeships as a
(Aristocratic Land owners)
Lawyer's assistant and University
and German Industrialists
Assistant
○ Later, World War I
● (1893) Temporary teaching
(1914-1918)
position at the University of Berlin
○ Married his Second Cousin,
Influences
Marriane Schnitger
● Aunt Ida Baumgarten, and her
● (1894-1897) Full Professor in
husband, historian Hermann
Political Economy at the
Baumgarten
University of Berlin and Freiburg
● Trip to America in 1904 exposed
University
Weber to various institutions that
● (1904) Resigned his positions and
he thought promoted freedom and
published Essays.
Democracy
 ○ Ex. Mass political parties &
Voluntary citizen’s
organizations.
● Preceding Sociologists: Karl Marx
& Emile Durkheim
○ Ex. Cultural influences in
religion vs Marx's historical
materialism to explain
capitalism.
● Tension between Mother's
Protestantism and Father's
Political Involvement
○ OvB's Kulturkampf:
"Cultural struggle" against
catholic church and the
expulsion of Jesuits.
○ Father’s social activities
distanced him from his
wife.
Contributions:
1. The Protestant Ethic
a. Protestant obsession that
good, honest hard work is
the key to salvation.
2. Disenchantment (of the World)
a. The rationalization and
devaluation of religion in
Modern Society.
3. The Three Types of Authority
a. Traditional: Tradition,
Divinity, "Divine Right",
i. Ex. Feudalism
b. Charismatic: Heroic
Individuals with magnetic
personalities, passion, and
will
i. Ex. Napoleon
c. Rational-Legal or
Bureaucratic Authority:
Belief in a set of uniform
principles
i. Ex. Bureaucracy
4. The Rise and Failure of
Capitalism
a. The roots of Capitalism and
economic development is
culture.
Major Works
1. The Religion of China:
Confucianism and Taoism
a.
2. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
of Capitalism
a. Religion played a role in
the proliferation of modern
spirit of capitalism
b. Modern capitalism, for him,
“sees profit as an end in
itself, and pursuing profit as
virtuous.”
c. Protestant teachings,
particularly Calvinists,
paved the way for this
d. “We are now locked into
the spirit of capitalism
because it is so useful for
modern economic activity.”
3. Economy and Society
a. An extensive book that
covers a variety of themes
(religion, economics,
politics, public
administration, and
sociology)
b. Has two volumes: Volume
1 consists of definitions of
key concepts
c. Sociology: a science
concerning itself with the
interpretive understanding
 of social action and thereby
with a causal explanation of
its course and consequences
d. Social action: Action
oriented to other's behavior
e. Social relationship: the
behavior of a plurality of
actors insofar as, in its
meaningful context, the
References
action of each takes account
of that of the others and is Max Weber - New World
oriented in these terms Encyclopedia. (2018). Retrieved
f. Three types of legitimate from
domination: Rational, http://www.newworldencycloped
Traditional and ia.org/entry/Max_Weber#Contrib
Charismatic. ution_and_Legacy
g. Bureaucracy http://danawilliams2.tripod.com/a
uthority.html

Mitzman, A. (2019). Max Weber |

Biography, Theory, & Books.
Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/biogr
aphy/Max-Weber-German-sociol
ogist

Odonsi, S. (2015). SOCIOLOGY:

Max Weber [Video]. Retrieved
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ICppFQ6Tabw

Sociology 250 - Notes on Max Weber.

(1999). Retrieved from
http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/s30f9
9.htm

https://www.sparknotes.com/philosop
hy/protestantethic/summary/

http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2013/07/
reading-economy-and-society.ht
ml