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162-502: The term bureaucrat derives from "bureaucracy", which in turn derives from the French "bureaucratie" first known from the 18th century. Bureaucratic work had already been performed for many centuries. The term may also refer to managerial and directorial executives in the corporate sector. Bureaucrats play various roles in modern society, by virtue of holding administrative, functional, and managerial positions in government. They carry out

324-508: A Protestant perspective to the political debate regarding the social question . In the same year, the Verein established a research program to examine the Ostflucht , which was the western migration of ethnically German agricultural labourers from eastern Germany and the corresponding influx of Polish farm workers into it. Weber was put in charge of the study and wrote a large part of

486-519: A national assembly that was to act as Germany's interim parliament and draft a new constitution. Because conditions in Berlin were still unsettled, the delegates met at Weimar . Ebert wanted the victorious Allies to be reminded of Weimar Classicism , which included the writers Goethe and Schiller , while they were deliberating the terms of the Versailles Treaty . The initial draft of

648-533: A US president, professed in his 1887 article The Study of Administration : But to fear the creation of a domineering, illiberal officialism as a result of the studies I am here proposing is to miss altogether the principle upon which I wish most to insist. That principle is, that administration in the United States must be at all points sensitive to public opinion. A body of thoroughly trained officials serving during good behavior we must have in any case: that

810-474: A balance between the executive and legislative branches under either a monarch or the people as sovereign. During July 1919, the National Assembly moved quickly through the draft constitution with most debates concluded within a single session and without public discussion of the issues. On 31 July the assembly adopted the new constitution by a vote of 262 to 75 with 1 abstention. Friedrich Ebert,

972-499: A biography of her late husband in 1926 which became one of the central historical accounts of his life. Weber's sociology treated social action as its central focus. He also interpreted it as having been an important part of the field's scientific nature. He divided social action into the four categories of affectional , traditional , instrumental, and value-rational action . In his methodology, he distinguished himself from Émile Durkheim and Karl Marx in that his primary focus

1134-533: A breakdown after his father died following an argument. Weber ceased teaching and travelled until the early 1900s. He recovered and wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism . During the First World War , he initially supported Germany's war effort but became critical of it and supported democratisation. He also gave the lectures " Science as a Vocation " and " Politics as a Vocation ". After

1296-527: A cold and needed to cancel classes. By 14 June 1920, the cold had turned into influenza and he died of pneumonia in Munich. He had likely contracted the Spanish flu during the post-war pandemic and been subjected to insufficient medical care. Else von Richthofen, who was present by his deathbed alongside his wife, thought that he could have survived his illness if he had been given better treatment. His body

1458-583: A combination of their basis in natural law and the rising kulak class manipulating them for their own gain. His general interpretation of the Russian Revolution was that it lacked a clear leader and was not based on the Russian intellectuals' goals. Instead, it was the result of the peasants' emotional passions. In 1909, having become increasingly dissatisfied with the political conservatism and perceived lack of methodological discipline of

1620-678: A law student, later studying at the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin and the University of Göttingen . He practiced law and worked as a lecturer simultaneously with his studies. In 1886, Weber passed the Referendar examination, which was comparable to the bar association examination in the British and U.S. legal systems. Throughout the late 1880s, he continued to study law and history. Under

1782-685: A lecture titled " Politics as a Vocation ", which commented on the subject of politics. It was prompted by the early Weimar Republic 's political turmoil and was requested by the Free Student Youth. Shortly before he left to join the delegation in Versailles on 13 May 1919, Weber used his connections with the German National People's Party 's deputies to meet with Erich Ludendorff . He spent several hours unsuccessfully trying to convince Ludendorff to surrender himself to

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1944-653: A personal chronology that his widow later destroyed. Its destruction was possibly caused by Marianne's fear that his work would have been discredited by the Nazis if his experience with mental illness were widely known. After recovering from his illness, Weber accepted a position as an associate editor of the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik ( Archive for Social Science and Social Policy ) in 1904, alongside his colleagues Edgar Jaffé and Werner Sombart. It facilitated his reintroduction to academia and became one of

2106-626: A politician, he associated them with different types of people and mindsets. These different types of people and mindsets reflected the pacifists and those who wanted to reverse Germany's defeat in the First World War, respectively. Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich ( German : Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs ), usually known as the Weimar Constitution ( Weimarer Verfassung ),

2268-520: A previously vacant chair in political economy that he had been in consideration for since October 1917. Later, in Munich , he was appointed to Lujo Brentano 's chair in social science, economic history, and political economy. He accepted the appointment in order to be closer to his mistress, Else von Richthofen. Responding to student requests, he gave a series of lectures on economic history. The student transcriptions of it were later edited and published as

2430-608: A professor. His condition forced him seek an exemption from his teaching obligations, which he was granted in 1899. He spent time in the Heilanstalt für Nervenkranke Konstanzer Hof in 1898 and in a different sanatorium in Bad Urach in 1900. Weber also travelled to Corsica and Italy between 1899 and 1903 in order to alleviate his illness. He fully withdrew from teaching in 1903 and did not return to it until 1918. Weber thoroughly described his ordeal with mental illness in

2592-532: A prospective successor before confidence can be withdrawn. Under the Weimar Constitution, the vote of no confidence often resulted in difficulty forming new coalitions and a degree of parliamentary instability that in the end was fatal to the Republic. The government (cabinet) formulated decisions by majority vote; in the case of a tie, the president's vote was decisive. The Reichstag could accuse

2754-550: A psychological justification for it in the form of the cycle of reincarnation . A person's position in the caste order was thought to have been determined by one's actions in their past life. As a result, advancement of the soul and obeying the predetermined order were more important than seeking advancement in the material world, including economic advancement. Weber ended his research of society and religion in India by bringing in insights from his previous work on China to discuss

2916-505: A relationship and semi-engagement with Emmy Baumgarten, the daughter of Hermann Baumgarten. Afterwards, he began a relationship with his distant cousin Marianne Schnitger in 1893 and married her on 20 September of that year. The marriage gave Weber financial independence, allowing him to leave his parents' household. They had no children. Marianne was a feminist activist and an author in her own right. Academically, between

3078-529: A result of its creation of a worldly perspective. As a result, the inheritors of that system were entrapped in a socioeconomic iron cage. Weber's work in the field of sociology of religion began with the book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism . It continued with the book series The Economic Ethics of the World Religions , which contained The Religion of China , The Religion of India , and Ancient Judaism . However, his work

3240-600: A scholar. Weber also began a sadomasochistic affair with Else von Richthofen the next year. Meanwhile, she was simultaneously conducting an affair with his brother, Alfred . Max Weber's affairs with Richtofen and Mina Tobler lasted until his death in 1920. After the war ended, Weber unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Weimar National Assembly in January 1919 as a member of the liberal German Democratic Party , which he had co-founded. He also advised

3402-460: A seminar that contained a discussion of Oswald Spengler 's The Decline of the West . Weber respected him and privately described him as having been "a very brilliant and scholarly dilettante". That seminar provoked some of his students, who knew Spengler personally, to suggest that he debate Spengler alongside other scholars. They met in the Munich town hall and debated for two days. The audience

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3564-475: A sign of salvation were representative of ascetic Protestantism. Ascetic Protestants practiced inner-worldly asceticism and sought to change the world to better reflect their beliefs. The notion of a religious calling, when combined with predestination , meant that each individual had to take action to prove their salvation to themselves. However, the success that these religious principles created ultimately removed them as an influence on modern capitalism as

3726-424: A theological or ethical lens, he interpreted it through a social one. Furthermore, he incorporated Friedrich Nietzsche 's concept of Ressentiment into his discussion of the topic. However, Weber disagreed with Nietzsche's emotional discussion of the topic and his interpretation of it as having been a Jewish-derived expression of slave morality . Weber divided theodicy into three main types: Weber defined

3888-604: A universal God became more popular and desirable. In The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism , Weber focused on those aspects of Chinese society that were different from those of Western Europe, especially those aspects that contrasted with Puritanism . As part of that, he questioned why capitalism had not developed in China. He focused on the issues of Chinese urban development, Chinese patrimonialism and officialdom and Chinese religion and philosophy  – primarily Confucianism and Taoism  – as

4050-471: A value-free organisation. Ultimately, that prompted his resignation from it. Rationalisation was a central theme in Weber's scholarship. This theme was situated in the larger context of the relationship between psychological motivations, cultural values, cultural beliefs, and the structure of the society. Weber understood rationalisation as having resulted in increasing knowledge, growing impersonality, and

4212-487: A variety of other contributions to economic sociology , political sociology , and the sociology of religion . After his death, the rise of Weberian scholarship was slowed by the Weimar Republic 's political instability and the rise of Nazi Germany . In the post-war era, organised scholarship began to appear, led by Talcott Parsons . Other American and British scholars were also involved in its development. Over

4374-470: A vote of two-thirds of the Reichstag. Rejection of the measure by the voters would act as a re-election of the president and cause the Reichstag to be dissolved. If a state failed to fulfil its obligations under the constitution or Reich law, the president could use armed force to compel the state to do so under a Reichsexekution . Article 48 gave the president the power to take measures – including

4536-405: Is a plain business necessity. But the apprehension that such a body will be anything un-American clears away the moment it is asked. What is to constitute good behavior? For that question obviously carries its own answer on its face. Steady, hearty allegiance to the policy of the government they serve will constitute good behavior. That policy will have no taint of officialism about it. It will not be

4698-415: Is a schematic that represents a social action and considers the role of meaning in it. By its nature, it was an exaggeration of an empirical situation through its assumption that the involved individuals were rational, had complete situational knowledge, were completely aware of the situation, were completely aware of their actions, and made no errors. This was then contrasted with empirical reality, allowing

4860-494: The Methodenstreit . In the first chapter of Economy and Society , he argued that only individuals "can be treated as agents in a course of subjectively understandable action". Despite the term's usage of "individualism", Weber did not interpret the individual as being the true source for sociological explanations. Instead, while only individuals could engage in intentional action, they were not necessarily separate from

5022-602: The Verein , he co-founded the German Sociological Association ( Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie ) and served as its first treasurer. Weber associated the society with the Verein and viewed the two organisations as not having been competitors. He unsuccessfully tried to steer the direction of the association. As part of that, Weber tried to make the Archiv its official journal. He resigned from his position as treasurer in 1912. That

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5184-573: The General Economic History by Siegmund Hellmann  [ de ] and Melchior Palyi  [ de ] in 1923. In terms of politics, he opposed the pardoning of the Bavarian Minister-President Kurt Eisner 's murderer, Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley . In response to that, right-wing students disrupted his classes and protested in front of his home. In early 1920, Weber gave

5346-548: The Allies . This debate also shifted to other subjects, such as who was culpable for Germany's defeat in the war. Weber thought that the German high command had failed, while Ludendorff regarded Weber as a democrat who was partially responsible for the revolution. Weber tried to disabuse him of that notion by expressing support for a democratic system with a strong executive. Since he held Ludendorff responsible for Germany's defeat in

5508-501: The National-Social Association , which was a Christian socialist and nationalist political organisation. Weber was pessimistic regarding the association's ability to succeed, and it dissolved after winning a single seat in the Reichstag during the 1903 German federal election . In 1896, he accepted an appointment to a chair in economics and finance at Heidelberg University . There, Weber and his wife became

5670-472: The Near East , with the exemplary prophecies found in mainland Asia that focused more on reaching to the educated elites and enlightening them on the proper ways to live one's life, usually with little emphasis on hard work and the material world. It was those differences that prevented Western countries from following the paths of the earlier Chinese and Indian civilisations. His next work, Ancient Judaism ,

5832-604: The Wilsonian principle of the self-determination of peoples. Articles 68 to 77 specified how legislation was to be passed into law. Laws could be proposed by a member of the Reichstag or by the Reich government and were passed on the majority vote of the Reichstag. Proposed legislation had to be presented to the Reichsrat, and the latter body's objections were required to be presented to the Reichstag. The Reich president had

5994-413: The economic freedom of the individual. The Reich protected labor, intellectual creation, and the rights of authors, inventors, and artists. The right to form unions and to improve working conditions was guaranteed to every individual and to all occupations, and protection of the self-employed was established. Workers and employees were given the right to participate, on an equal footing with employers, in

6156-733: The textile industry . Over time, Weber was affected by the marital and personality tensions between his father, who enjoyed material pleasures while overlooking religious and philanthropic causes, and his mother, a devout Calvinist and philanthropist. Weber entered the Doebbelinsche Privatschule in Charlottenburg in 1870, before attending the Kaiserin-Augusta-Gymnasium between 1872 and 1882. While in class, bored and unimpressed with his teachers, Weber secretly read all forty volumes by

6318-891: The Congress of Arts and Sciences that was held in connection with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis alongside his wife, Werner Sombart, Ernst Troeltsch, and other German scholars. Taking advantage of the fair, the Webers embarked on a trip that began and ended in New York City and lasted for almost three months. They travelled throughout the country, from New England to the Deep South . Different communities were visited, including German immigrant towns and African American communities. North Carolina

6480-939: The Emperor and the Pope" and "About the Roman Imperial Period from Constantine to the Migration Period". Two years later, also during Christmastime, he wrote another historical essay, "Observations on the Ethnic Character, Development, and History of the Indo-European Nations". These three essays were non-derivative contributions to the philosophy of history and were derived from Weber's reading of "numerous sources". In 1882, Weber enrolled in Heidelberg University as

6642-706: The Federal Republic of Germany ( West Germany until 1990, then reunited Germany ) and the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ). The constitution's title was the same as the Constitution of the German Empire that preceded it. The German state's official name was German Reich ( Deutsches Reich ) until 1949. After the end of World War I , the government of Imperial Germany collapsed during

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6804-558: The German states was likewise a citizen of Germany. Germans had the right of mobility and residence, and the right to acquire property and pursue a trade. They had the right to emigrate and to government protection against foreign authorities. The "traditional development" ( volkstümliche Entwicklung ) of foreign language communities in Germany was protected, including the right to use their native language in education, administration, and

6966-520: The Jewish people as having been a pariah people, which meant that they were separated from the society that contained them. He examined the ancient Jewish people's origins and social structures. In his view, the Israelites maintained order through a covenant with the war god Yahweh and the practice of warrior asceticism. Under Solomon , that changed into a more organised and law-based society than

7128-625: The Middle Ages, Based on Southern European Documents , which he published in the same year. Two years later, Weber worked with the statistician August Meitzen to complete his habilitation , a post-doctoral thesis, titled Roman Agrarian History and Its Significance for Public and Private Law . Having thus become a Privatdozent , Weber joined the faculty of the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, lecturing, conducting research, and consulting for

7290-482: The National Assembly in its drafting of the Weimar Constitution . While he was campaigning for his party, Weber critiqued the left and complained about Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg who led the leftist Spartacus League . He regarded the German Revolution of 1918–1919 as having been responsible for Germany's inability to fight against Poland 's claims on its eastern territories. His opposition to

7452-621: The Puritans' religious calling to work caused them to systematically obtain wealth. They wished to prove that they were members of the elect who were destined to go to Heaven. Weber used Benjamin Franklin 's personal ethic, as described in his " Advice to a Young Tradesman ", as an example of the Protestant sects' economic ethic. Both rationalisation and the ideal type , concepts that later became central to his scholarship, appeared in

7614-412: The Reich was allowed to either legislate or prescribe fundamental principles, notably "taxation and other revenues in so far as they are claimed in whole or in part for its purposes". With the exceptions of the subjects for which the Reich government had exclusive jurisdiction, the states could pass legislation for their respective territories as they saw fit. Reich law superseded or nullified state law in

7776-530: The Reichsrat by votes corresponding in number to its population". The Republic of German-Austria had been established after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary from the predominantly German-speaking regions of the former empire. Hugo Preuss publicly criticised the Triple Entente 's decision in the Treaty of Versailles to prohibit the unification of " Greater Germany ", saying that it was a contradiction of

7938-545: The Spirit of Capitalism is Weber's most famous work. It was his first work on how religions affected economic systems' development. In the book, he put forward the thesis that the Protestant work ethic , which was derived from the theological ideas of the Reformation , influenced the development of capitalism. Weber was looking for elective affinities between the Protestant work ethic and capitalism. He argued that

8100-470: The Weimar Constitution provided for the orderly transition to the new constitution and stipulated in some cases when the various provisions of the new constitution were to take effect. In cases where legislation had yet to be passed (such as the laws governing the new Supreme Judicial Court), the articles stipulated how the constitutional authority would be exercised in the interim by existing institutions. The section also stipulated that new bodies established by

8262-605: The areas in which Chinese development significantly differed from the European route. According to Weber, Confucianism and Puritanism were superficially similar, but were actually largely different from one another. Instead, they were mutually exclusive types of rational thought , each attempting to prescribe a way of life based on religious dogma. Notably, they both valued self-control and restraint and did not oppose accumulation of wealth. However, both of those qualities were simply means to different final goals. Confucianism's goal

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8424-631: The belief in supernatural interference in the material world. Due to disenchantment, this gave way to rational and scientific explanations for events. According to the Sociology of Religion religious activity began with actions in the material world that people associated with vague spirits and gave magical meanings to. Over time, these magical beliefs became increasingly systemised and the spirits became gods that were represented by symbols. This increasing theological systemisation resulted in polytheism and organised religion . Increasing rationality caused

8586-497: The calling quickly gave to the modern entrepreneur a fabulously clear conscience – and also industrious workers; he gave to his employees as the wages of their ascetic devotion to the calling and of co-operation in his ruthless exploitation of them through capitalism the prospect of eternal salvation. —Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism , 1905. The Protestant Ethic and

8748-545: The case needed to be dealt with by bourgeois reformers who were not "derailed". A year later, also in spring, he again holidayed in Ascona. The community contained several different expressions of the then-contemporaneous radical political and lifestyle reform movements. They included naturism , free love , and Western esotericism , among others. Weber was critical of the anarchist and erotic movements in Ascona, as he viewed their fusion as having been politically absurd. After

8910-502: The case, as that is determined by those value ideas in the light of which we look at "culture" in each individual case. —Max Weber in "The 'Objectivity' of Knowledge in Social Science and Social Policy", 1904. In terms of methodology, Weber was primarily concerned with the question of objectivity and subjectivity , distinguishing social action from social behavior and noting that social action must be understood through

9072-474: The central figures in the eponymous Weber Circle , which included Georg Jellinek , Ernst Troeltsch , and Werner Sombart . Younger scholars, such as György Lukács and Robert Michels , also joined it. In 1897, Weber had a severe quarrel with his father. Weber Sr. died two months later, leaving the argument unresolved. Afterwards, Weber became increasingly prone to depression, nervousness, and insomnia , which made it difficult for him to fulfill his duties as

9234-419: The chancellor and, on the chancellor's recommendation, the members of the cabinet. The chancellor determined the political guidelines of his government and was responsible to the Reichstag. The chancellor and ministers were compelled to resign in the event the Reichstag passed a vote of no confidence . It was not, however, a constructive vote of no confidence , which requires that there be a positive majority for

9396-485: The children in Heidelberg or move closer to Geheeb's Odenwaldschule ("Odenwald School") so that he could be alone in Munich with his mistress, Else von Richthofen . He left the decision to Marianne, but she said that only he could make the decision to leave for himself. While this was occurring, Weber began to believe that own life had reached its end. On 4 June 1920, Weber's students were informed that he had

9558-423: The choosing of values. With regards to economics, he argued that productivity was not a useful scientific concept, as it could impede the proper evaluation of economic phenomena. The principle of methodological individualism, which holds that social scientists should seek to understand collectivities solely as the result of individual people's actions, can be traced to Weber. The term "methodological individualism"

9720-486: The classification of legitimate authority into three ideal types – rational-legal , traditional , and charismatic  – of which rational-legal was the dominant one in the modern world. In these works, Weber described what he saw as society's movement towards rationalisation. Bureaucratic states justified themselves through their own rationality and were supported by expert knowledge which made them rational. Rationalisation could also be seen in

9882-431: The classroom. He first articulated it in his writings on scientific philosophy, including "The 'Objectivity' of Knowledge in Social Science and Social Policy" and "Science as a Vocation". Weber was influenced by Heinrich Rickert 's concept of value-relevance. Rickert used it to relate historical objects to values while maintaining objectivity through explicitly defined conceptual distinctions. However, Weber disagreed with

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10044-504: The collective group. He interpreted methodological individualism as having had close proximity to verstehende ("interpretive") sociology, as actions could be interpreted subjectively. Similarly, it was also related to ideal types in that it involved discussions of abstract and rational models of human behaviour. The ideal type was a central concept in Weber's methodology. He interpreted them as having been indispensable for it. Due their taking of meaning into account, they are unique to

10206-512: The completion of his dissertation and habilitation, Weber took an interest in contemporary social policy . He joined the Verein für Socialpolitik ("Association for Social Policy") in 1888. The Verein was an organisation of reformist thinkers who were generally members of the historical school of economics . He also involved himself in politics, participating in the founding of the left-leaning Evangelical Social Congress in 1890. It applied

10368-474: The confidence of the respective state parliament. Articles 20 to 40 described the national parliament, the Reichstag , which was seated in the capital, Berlin. The Reichstag was composed of representatives elected by the German people by an equal and secret ballot open to all Germans over 20 years of age. Proportional representation principles governed Reichstag elections. Members of the Reichstag represented

10530-612: The constitution was written by the lawyer and liberal politician Hugo Preuss , who headed the Ministry of the Interior. He based his draft in large part on the Frankfurt Constitution of 1849 which was written after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and intended for a unified Germany that did not come to pass at the time. He was influenced as well by Robert Redslob's theory of parliamentarianism, which called for

10692-496: The constitution, members – except for the Prussians who were provincial representatives – were considered to be bound by the instructions of their respective state governments. Government ministers were required to inform the Reichsrat of proposed legislation or administrative regulations to permit the Reichsrat to voice objections. Article 61 stated that " German Austria , after union with the German Reich, shall be represented in

10854-486: The context of wider debates about social scientific methodology. The first of which was the Methodenstreit ("method dispute"). His position in it was close to historicism , as he thought that social actions were heavily tied to particular historical contexts. Furthermore, analysing social actions required an understanding of the relevant individuals' subjective motivations. Therefore, his methodology emphasised

11016-414: The course of the twentieth century, Weber's reputation rose due to the publication of translations of his works and scholarly interpretations of his life and works. As a result of these works, he began to be regarded as a founding father of sociology, alongside Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim , and one of the central figures in the development of the social sciences more generally. Maximilian Carl Emil Weber

11178-414: The creation of capitalism became unnecessary and it became able to propagate itself without them. What Weber depicted was not only the secularisation of Western culture , but also and especially the development of modern societies from the viewpoint of rationalisation. The new structures of society were marked by the differentiation of the two functionally intermeshing systems that had taken shape around

11340-455: The creation of permanent officials, but of statesmen whose responsibility to public opinion will be direct and inevitable. Bureaucracy can exist only where the whole service of the state is removed from the common political life of the people, its chiefs as well as its rank and file. Its motives, its objects, its policy, its standards, must be bureaucratic. It would be difficult to point out any examples of impudent exclusiveness and arbitrariness on

11502-416: The day-to-day implementation of enacted policies for central government agencies, such as postal services, education and healthcare administration, and various regulatory bodies. Bureaucrats can be split into different categories based on the system, nationality, and time they come from. German sociologist Max Weber defined a bureaucratic official as the following: As an academic, Woodrow Wilson , later

11664-515: The demise of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi Germany . The preamble to the Constitution reads: The German people united in every respect and inspired by the determination to restore and confirm the Reich in liberty and justice, to serve peace at home and peace abroad, and to further social progress, has given itself this constitution. The first part of the constitution specified

11826-402: The development of Western monotheism, which resulted in groups focusing on specific gods for political and economic purposes, creating a universal religion. According to Weber, Protestantism encouraged an increased pursuit of rationality that led to the devaluing of itself. In turn, this devaluation led to nihilism through its destruction of unifying values. The development of the concept of

11988-402: The development of capitalism in the West and the absence of it in China. In The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism , Weber dealt with the structure of Indian society, with the orthodox doctrines of Hinduism and the heterodox doctrines of Buddhism , with modifications brought by the influence of popular religiosity and finally with the impact of religious beliefs on

12150-495: The early days of the German revolution of 1918–1919 . In the following months, the far left parties that fought to establish a soviet republic were defeated by those of the moderate left that wanted a parliamentary republic. The victorious parties, led by Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democrats (SPD), scheduled an election on 19 January 1919 – in which women for the first time had equal voting rights with men – for

12312-430: The economy, with the development of a highly rational and calculating capitalism. Capitalism's rationality related to its basis in calculation, which separated it from alternative forms of economic organisation. State bureaucracy and capitalism served as the twin pillars of the developing rational society. These changes eliminated the preexisting traditions that relied on the trades. Weber also saw rationalisation as one of

12474-439: The enhanced control of social and material life. He was ambivalent towards rationalisation. Weber admitted that it was responsible for many advances, particularly freeing humans from traditional, restrictive, and illogical social guidelines. However, he also criticised it for dehumanising individuals as "cogs in the machine" and curtailing their freedom, trapping them in the iron cage of rationality and bureaucracy. His studies of

12636-413: The entire nation and were bound only to their own conscience. Members served for four years. The Reichstag could be dissolved by the Reich president, and new elections had to be held not more than 60 days after the date of dissolution. Members of the Reichstag and of the state parliaments were immune from arrest or investigation of a criminal offense except with the approval of the legislative body to which

12798-587: The event of a conflict. Adjudication of conflicts between a state and the Reich government fell under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Judicial Court. States were required to have a republican constitution and its authorities to enforce Reich law. Each state parliament ( Landtag ) was to be elected by equal, secret, direct and universal (both men and women) ballot according to the principles of proportional representation . Each state government (the "state ministry") could serve only so long as it had

12960-402: The event's romantic atmosphere. After he spoke at the first one, he became involved in the planning for the second one, as Diederichs thought that the conferences needed someone who could serve as an oppositional figure. In this capacity, he argued against the political romanticism that Max Maurenbrecher , a former theologian, espoused. Weber also opposed what he saw as the excessive rhetoric of

13122-615: The final report, which generated considerable attention and controversy, marking the beginning of his renown as a social scientist. From 1893 to 1899, Weber was a member of the Pan-German League ( Alldeutscher Verband ), an organisation that campaigned against the influx of Polish workers. The degree of his support for the Germanisation of Poles and similar nationalist policies continues to be debated by scholars. Weber and his wife moved to Freiburg in 1894, where he

13284-503: The first president of Germany , signed the Weimar Constitution on 11 August 1919, and it became effective on the 14th. A federal election was held on 6 June 1920 for the new Reichstag . The Weimar Constitution was divided into two main parts or chapters. They in turn were divided into seven and five sections respectively. In all, there were 181 articles in the constitution. Some of the more noteworthy provisions are described below, including those provisions which proved significant in

13446-543: The government. Weber's years as a university student were dotted with several periods of military service, the longest of which lasted between October 1883 and September 1884. During this time, he was in Strasbourg and attended classes at the University of Strasbourg that his uncle, the historian Hermann Baumgarten , taught. Weber befriended Baumgarten and he influenced Weber's growing liberalism and criticism of Otto von Bismarck 's domination of German politics. He

13608-474: The government. In private schools operated by religious communities, religious instruction could take place in accordance with the religious community's principles. Constitutional provisions about economic affairs were given in Articles 151 to 165. One of the fundamental principles was that economic life should conform to the principles of justice, with the goal of achieving a dignified life for all and securing

13770-567: The human mind would, "objectively" speaking, be less law-like, but for the following two reasons: (1) knowledge of social laws does not constitute knowledge of social reality, but is only one of the various tools that our intellect needs for that [latter] purpose; (2) knowledge of cultural occurrences is only conceivable if it takes as its point of departure the significance that the reality of life, with its always individual character, has for us in certain particular respects. No law can reveal to us in what sense and in what respects this will be

13932-481: The idea that a scholar could maintain objectivity while ascribing to a hierarchy of values in the way that Rickert did, however. His argument regarding value-freedom was connected to his involvement in the Werturteilsstreit . As part of it, he argued in favour of the idea that the social sciences needed to be value-free. During it, he unsuccessfully tried to turn the German Sociological Association into

14094-430: The importance of societal class within religion by examining the difference between the theodicies of fortune and misfortune and to what class structures they apply. The theodicy of fortune related to the desire of those who were successful to prove that they deserved it. They were also prone to not being satisfied with what they already had and wished to avoid the notion that they were illegitimate or sinful. Those without

14256-412: The importance of subjectivity in the social sciences made the creation of fool-proof, universal laws much more difficult than in the natural sciences and that the amount of objective knowledge that social sciences were able to create was limited. Overall, he supported objective science as a goal worth striving for but noted that it was ultimately an unreachable goal. Weber's methodology was developed in

14418-414: The individual rights of Germans, the principal tenet being that every German was equal before the law. Men and women had "in principle" the same civil rights and duties. Privileges based on birth or rank – that is, the German nobility – were abolished. Official recognition of the titles of nobility ceased, except as a part of a person's name, and creation of noble titles was discontinued. A citizen of any of

14580-407: The intermediatory steps of polytheism , pantheism , and monotheism . According to him, this was the result of growing economic stability, which allowed for professionalisation and the evolution of an increasingly sophisticated priesthood. As societies grew more complex and encompassed different groups, a hierarchy of gods developed. Meanwhile, as their power became more centralised, the concept of

14742-629: The interwar period, failed to prevent Adolf Hitler from setting up a Nazi dictatorship using the constitution as a cover of legitimacy. Although it was de facto repealed by the Enabling Act of 1933 , the constitution remained technically in effect throughout the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945 and also during the Allied occupation of Germany from 1945 to 1949. It was then replaced by the Basic Law for

14904-402: The judicial system. Other specific articles stated that: Articles 119 to 134 guided Germans' interaction with the community and established, among other provisions, that: The religious rights of Germans were enumerated in Articles 135 to 141. Residents of Germany were granted freedom of belief and conscience. Free practice of religion was guaranteed and protected by the state. No state church

15066-476: The law. Extraordinary courts were prohibited and military courts allowed only during wartime and aboard warships. The section required that laws be promulgated to establish a Supreme Judicial Court and administrative courts to adjudicate disputes between citizens and administrative offices of the state. The law to set up the Supreme Judicial Court ( Staatsgerichtshof für das Deutsche Reich )

15228-437: The main factors that set the West apart from the rest of the world. He also applied rationalisation to music in his The Rational and Social Foundations of Music . In writing it, he was influenced by his affair with the pianist Mina Tobler  [ de ] and a sense that Western music was the only type that had become harmonic, while other cultures' music was more intense and focused on hearing. Weber argued that music

15390-531: The methods by which the Reich government administered the constitution and laws, particularly in the areas where the Reich government had exclusive jurisdiction – foreign relations, colonial affairs, defence, taxation and customs, merchant shipping and waterways, railroads and so forth. Articles 102 to 108 established the justice system of the Weimar Republic. The principal provision mandated judicial independence  – judges were responsible only to

15552-416: The military, extensive emergency powers, and appointed and removed the chancellor, who was responsible to the Reichstag. The constitution included a significant number of civic rights such as freedom of speech and habeas corpus . It guaranteed freedom of religion and did not permit the establishment of a state church. The constitution contained a number of weaknesses which, under the difficult conditions of

15714-405: The most prominent social science journals as a result of his efforts. Weber published some of his most seminal works in this journal, including his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism , which became his most famous work and laid the foundations for his later research on the impact of religion on the development of economic systems. Also in 1904, he was invited to participate in

15876-424: The old confederation was. Religiously, the priests replaced the previous charismatic religious leaders. Weber thought that Elijah was the first prophet to have risen from the shepherds. Elijah promulgated political prophecies and opposed the monarchy . Weber used the concept of theodicy in his interpretation of theology and religion throughout his corpus. This involved both his scholarly and personal interests in

16038-400: The operation of educational institutions within the Reich. Public education was provided by state institutions and regulated by the government, with cooperation between federal, state and local authorities. Primary school was compulsory (eight years), with advanced schooling available to age 18 free of charge. The constitution also provided for private schooling, which was likewise regulated by

16200-418: The oppositional gesinnungsethik and verantwortungsethik  [ de ] (the "ethic of ultimate ends" and the "ethic of responsibility"). An adherent of the verantwortungsethik justified their actions based on their consequences. Meanwhile, an adherent of the gesinnungsethik justified their actions based on their ideals. While Weber thought that both of them would ideally be present in

16362-756: The organisational cores of the capitalist enterprise and the bureaucratic state apparatus. Weber understood this process as the institutionalisation of purposive-rational economic and administrative action. To the degree that everyday life was affected by this cultural and societal rationalisation, traditional forms of life – which in the early modern period were differentiated primarily according to one's trade – were dissolved. — Jürgen Habermas in The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: Twelve Lectures , 1990. Weber continued his investigation into this matter in later works, notably in his studies on bureaucracy and on

16524-402: The organization of the various parts of the federal government. Section 1 consisted of Articles 1 to 19 and established the German Reich as a republic whose power derived from the people. The Reich was defined as the region encompassed by the German states; other regions could be incorporated into the Reich based on popular self-determination and corresponding Reich legislation. (Germany received

16686-465: The origin of modern capitalism was in the religious ideas of the Reformation. According to him, certain types of Protestantism – notably Calvinism  – were supportive of the rational pursuit of economic gain and the worldly activities that were dedicated to it, seeing those activities as having been endowed with moral and spiritual significance. The spirit of capitalism

16848-463: The outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Weber volunteered for service and was appointed as a reserve officer in charge of organising the army hospitals in Heidelberg, a role he fulfilled until the end of 1915. His views on the war and the expansion of the German Empire changed over the course of the conflict. Early on, he supported the German war effort , with some hesitation, viewing

17010-645: The part of officials doing service under a chief of department who really served the people, as all our chiefs of departments must be made to do. It would be easy, on the other hand, to adduce other instances like that of the influence of Stein in Prussia, where the leadership of one statesman imbued with true public spirit transformed arrogant and perfunctory bureaux into public-spirited instruments of just government. Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber ( / ˈ v eɪ b ər / ; German: [maks ˈveːbɐ] ; 21 April 1864 – 14 June 1920)

17172-522: The pedagogue Paul Geheeb ended his affair with her. Weber thought positively of it, as he thought that her suicide was justified and that suicide in general could be an honourable act. Weber and his wife took in Lili's four children and planned to raise them. He was uncomfortable with his newfound role as a father figure, but he thought that Marianne was fulfilled as a woman by this event. She later formally adopted them in 1928. Weber wished for her to stay with

17334-486: The person belonged. The same approval was required for any other restriction on personal freedom which might harm the member's ability to fulfil his duties. Articles 41 to 59 describe the duties of the president, including the qualifications for the office. They also explain his relationship to the national ministry (cabinet) and the chancellor . The president served a term of seven years and could be re-elected once. He could be removed from office by referendum following

17496-547: The philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey , the jurist Levin Goldschmidt , and the historian Theodor Mommsen . The young Weber and his brother Alfred , who also became a sociologist, passed their formative years in this intellectual atmosphere. Meanwhile, Fallenstein was partly descended from the French Huguenot Souchay family  [ de ] , which had obtained wealth through international commerce and

17658-540: The pianist Mina Tobler  [ de ] . After a failed attempt to court Richthofen, Weber began an affair with Tobler in 1911. Later, during the spring of 1913, Weber holidayed in the Monte Verità community in Ascona , Switzerland . While holidaying, he was advising Frieda Gross in her custody battle for her children. He opposed Erich Mühsam 's involvement because Mühsam was an anarchist . Weber argued that

17820-418: The power to decree that a proposed law be presented to the voters as a referendum before taking effect. The Reichsrat was entitled to object to laws passed by the Reichstag. If the objection could not be resolved, the Reich president at his discretion could call for a referendum or let the proposed law die. If the Reichstag voted to overrule the Reichsrat's objection by a two-thirds majority, the Reich president

17982-466: The president, chancellor, or any minister of willful violation of the constitution or Reich law, with the case to be tried in the Supreme Judicial Court. Section 4 consisted of Articles 60 to 67 and established the Reichsrat (State Council). The Reichsrat was the means by which the states participated in legislation at the national level. The number of members was based on the states' populations, with

18144-412: The regulation of wages and working conditions as well as in economic development. The Reich reserved the right to "transfer to public ownership private economic enterprises suitable for socialization". It undertook to provide comprehensive insurance for health, maternity and old age. Workers were to be given legal representation on factory workers' councils. The final 16 articles (Articles 166 to 181) of

18306-447: The religions of China , India , and ancient Judaism . In terms of government, Weber argued that states were defined by their monopoly on violence and categorised social authority into three distinct forms : charismatic , traditional , and rational-legal . He was also a key proponent of methodological antipositivism , arguing for the study of social action through interpretive rather than purely empiricist methods. Weber made

18468-775: The researcher to better understand it. However, ideal types are not direct representations of reality and Weber warned against interpreting them as such. He placed no limits on what could be analysed through the use of ideal types. Since, for him, rational methodology and science were synonymous with one another, ideal types were constructed rationally. Weber believed that social scientists needed to avoid making value-judgements. Instead, he wanted social scientific research to be value-free. This would give them objectivity, but it needed to be combined with an acknowledgement that their research connected with values in different ways. As part of his support for value-freedom, Weber opposed both instructors and students promoting their political views in

18630-481: The restriction that no state could have more than two-fifths of the total – a provision that limited only Prussia 's influence since it had three-fifths of Germany's population. Members of the Reichsrat were required to be members the state ministries, with the exception again of Prussia, half of whose members had to be appointed from among the Prussian provincial administrative authorities. Although not specified in

18792-557: The revolution may have prevented Friedrich Ebert , the new president of Germany and a member of the Social Democratic Party , from appointing him as a minister or ambassador. Weber was also critical of the Treaty of Versailles , which he believed unjustly assigned war guilt to Germany . Instead, he believed that many countries were guilty of starting it, not just Germany. In making this case, Weber argued that Russia

18954-514: The revolution's ability to succeed, Weber supported the establishment of a liberal democracy in Russia. He wrote two essays on it that were published in the Archiv . Weber interpreted the revolution as having been the result of the peasants' desire for land. He discussed the role of the obshchina , rural peasant communities, in Russian political debates. According to Weber, they were difficult for liberal agrarian reformers to abolish due to

19116-472: The sacraments or actions that proved their right to possess greater wealth. In political sociology , one of Weber's most influential contributions is his lecture " Politics as a Vocation ", in which he defined the state as an entity that was " based on the legitimate use of force ". Accordingly, Weber proposed that politics is the sharing of state power between various groups, whereas political leaders were those who wielded this power. He divided action into

19278-539: The secular ethic of Indian society. In Weber's view, Hinduism in India, like Confucianism in China, was a barrier for capitalism. The Indian caste system , which developed in post-Classical India and served as the source for legitimate social interactions, served as a key part of that. Both Hinduism and the Brahmins ' high status upheld the caste system. The Brahmins used their monopoly on education and theological authority to maintain their position, while Hinduism created

19440-584: The similarities of the Asian belief systems. He noted that these religions' believers used otherworldly mystical experiences to interpret the meaning of life. The social world was fundamentally divided between the educated elite who followed the guidance of a prophet or wise man and the uneducated masses whose beliefs are centered on magic. In Asia, there were no messianic prophecies to give both educated and uneducated followers meaning in their regular lives. Weber juxtaposed such Messianic prophecies, notably from

19602-442: The social sciences. The term "ideal type" was derived from Georg Jellinek 's use of it. Weber outlined it in " The 'Objectivity' of Knowledge in Social Science and Social Policy " and the first chapter of Economy and Society . The ideal types' three functions are the formulation of terminology, classifications, and hypotheses. The latter task was of the greatest importance of the three. In terms of their construction, an ideal type

19764-416: The social sciences. It originated with a debate in the Verein für Socialpolitik between the supporters of the idea that ethics was an important consideration in the field of economics and those who opposed it. Weber's position was that the social sciences should strive to be value-free . In his view, scholars and students needed to avoid promoting political values in the classroom. Science had no part in

19926-444: The subject began with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism . In it, he argued that Protestantism 's – particularly Calvinism 's – redefinition of the connection between work and piety caused a shift towards rational efforts that were aimed at achieving economic gain. In Protestantism, piety towards God was expressed through one's secular vocation. The religious principles that influenced

20088-415: The subject. It was central to his conception of humanity, which he interpreted as having been connected with finding meaning. Theodicy was a popular subject of study amongst German scholars who sought to determine how a world created by an omnibenevolent and omnipotent being can contain suffering. As part of this tradition, Weber was careful in his study of the subject. Rather than interpreting it through

20250-417: The subjective relationships between individuals. According to him, the study of social action through interpretive means or verstehen ("to understand") needed to be based upon understanding the subjective meaning and purpose that individuals attached to their actions. Determining an individual's interpretation of their actions required either empathically or rationally derived evidence. Weber noted that

20412-418: The terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which reduced its land area and population by 13% and 12% respectively, on 7 May 1919, while the constitution was being debated in the National Assembly.) Section 1 also established that generally recognized principles of international law were binding on Germany and gave the Reich government exclusive jurisdiction of: Articles 7 through 11 listed many more areas in which

20574-512: The then-recent Russian Revolution of 1905 . He learned the Russian language in a few months, subscribed to Russian newspapers, and discussed Russian political and social affairs with the Russian émigré community in Heidelberg . He was personally popular in that community and twice entertained the idea of a trip to Russia . His schedule prevented it, however. While he was sceptical of

20736-418: The thesis. Rationalisation caused the West to be trapped in the stahlhartes Gehäuse ("iron cage" or "steel-hard casing") that was the modern capitalist economic order. Meanwhile, ideal types were representative figures, or case studies, that represented concepts. Christian religious devotion was historically accompanied by the rejection of mundane affairs, including economic pursuit. Weber argued that

20898-723: The tutelage of Levin Goldschmidt and Rudolf von Gneist , Weber earned his law doctorate in 1889 by writing a dissertation on legal history titled Development of the Principle of Joint Liability and a Separate Fund of the General Partnership out of the Household Communities and Commercial Associations in Italian Cities . It was a part of a longer work, On the History of Commercial Partnerships in

21060-496: The use of comparative historical analysis . As such, he was more interested in explaining how a certain outcome was the result of various historical processes than in predicting those processes' outcome in the future. The second debate that shaped Weber's perspective on methodology was the Werturteilsstreit ("value-judgement dispute"). This debate was held between 1909 and 1914 on the subject of value-judgements in

21222-415: The use of armed force and/or the suspension of civil rights – to restore law and order in the event of a serious threat to public safety or security. Since Article 50 required all of the president's decrees to be counter-signed by the chancellor or "competent national minister", use of Article 48 required agreement between president and chancellor. The president was also required to inform the Reichstag of

21384-507: The use of such measures, and the Reichstag could nullify the decree. In 1933 President Paul von Hindenburg and Chancellor Adolf Hitler , using Article 48 as the basis for the Reichstag Fire Decree , legally swept away most of the key the civil liberties granted in the Weimar Constitution and thereby facilitated the establishment of a dictatorship. The president had supreme command over the military and appointed and removed

21546-508: The war and having sent many young Germans to die on the battlefield, Weber thought that he should surrender himself and become a political martyr. However, Ludendorff was not willing to do so and instead wanted to live off of his pension. Frustrated with politics, Weber resumed teaching, first at the University of Vienna in 1918, then at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1919. In Vienna , Weber filled

21708-504: The war as having been necessary to fulfill Germany's duty as a leading state power. In time, however, Weber became one of the most prominent critics of both German expansionism and the Kaiser's war policies . He publicly criticised Germany's potential annexation of Belgium and unrestricted submarine warfare , later supporting calls for constitutional reform, democratisation, and universal suffrage . His younger brother Karl, an architect,

21870-558: The war, Weber co-founded the German Democratic Party , unsuccessfully ran for office, and advised the drafting of the Weimar Constitution . Becoming frustrated with politics, he resumed teaching in Vienna and Munich . He died of pneumonia in 1920 at the age of 56, possibly as a result of the post-war Spanish flu pandemic. A book, Economy and Society , was left unfinished. One of Weber's main intellectual concerns

22032-400: The work ethic believed in the theodicy of misfortune, believing wealth and happiness were granted in the afterlife. Another example of how this belief of religious theodicy influenced class was that those of lower economic status tended towards deep religiousness and faith as a way to comfort themselves and provide hope for a more prosperous future, while those of higher economic status preferred

22194-525: The writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . Goethe later exerted an important influence on his thought and methodology. Before entering university, he read many other classical works, including those by the philosopher Immanuel Kant . For Christmas in 1877, a thirteen-year-old Weber gifted his parents two historical essays, entitled "About the Course of German History, with Special Reference to the Positions of

22356-503: The youth groups and nationalists at Lauenstein, instead supporting German democratisation. For Weber and the younger participants, the conferences' romantic intent was irrelevant to the determination of Germany's future. In November, shortly after the second conference, Weber was invited by the Free Student Youth, a student organisation, to give a lecture in Munich, resulting in " Science as a Vocation ". In it, he argued that an inner calling and specialisation were necessary for one to become

22518-428: Was "a cultured status position", while Puritanism's goal was to create individuals who were "tools of God". According to Weber, the Puritans sought rational control of the world and rejected its irrationality while Confucians sought rational acceptance of that state of affairs. Therefore, he stated that it was the difference in social attitudes and mentality, shaped by the respective dominant religions, that contributed to

22680-649: Was a German sociologist , historian, jurist , and political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sciences more generally. His ideas continue to influence social theory and research . Born in Erfurt in 1864, Weber studied law and history in Berlin , Göttingen , and Heidelberg . After earning his doctorate in law in 1889 and habilitation in 1891, he taught in Berlin, Freiburg , and Heidelberg. He married his cousin Marianne Schnitger two years later. In 1897, he had

22842-773: Was a member of the Burschenschaft Allemannia Heidelberg  [ de ] , a Studentenverbindung ("student association"), and heavily drank beer and engaged in academic fencing during his first few years in university. As a result of the latter, he obtained several duelling scars on the left side of his face. His mother was displeased by his behaviour and slapped him after he came home when his third semester ended in 1883. However, Weber matured, increasingly supported his mother in family arguments, and grew estranged from his father. From 1887 until her declining mental health caused him to break off their relationship five years later, Weber had

23004-473: Was also visited, as some of Weber's relatives in the Fallenstein family had settled there. Weber used the trip to learn more about America's social, economic, and theological conditions and how they related to his thesis. Afterwards, he felt that he was unable to resume regular teaching and remained a private scholar, helped by an inheritance in 1907. Shortly after returning, Weber's attention shifted to

23166-572: Was an attempt to prove this theory. In Ancient Judaism , Weber attempted to explain the factors that resulted in the early differences between Eastern and Western religiosity . He contrasted the innerworldly asceticism developed by Western Christianity with the mystical contemplation that developed in India. Weber noted that some aspects of Christianity sought to conquer and change the world, rather than withdraw from its imperfections. This fundamental characteristic of Christianity originally stemmed from ancient Jewish prophecy . Weber classified

23328-468: Was appointed professor of economics at the University of Freiburg . During his tenure there, in 1895, he gave a provocative lecture titled "The Nation State and Economic Policy". In it, he criticised Polish immigration and argued that the Junkers were encouraging Slavic immigration to serve their economic interests over those of the German nation. It influenced the politician Friedrich Naumann to create

23490-510: Was becoming increasingly rational. In his view, that resulted from new developments in musical instrument construction and simultaneous socio-economic shifts of the different instruments' players. The process of disenchantment caused the world to become more explained and less mystical, moving from polytheistic religions to monotheistic ones and finally to the Godless science of modernity . Older explanations of why events occurred relied on

23652-660: Was born on 21 April 1864 in Erfurt , Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, but his family moved to Berlin in 1869. He was the oldest of Max Weber Sr. and Helene Fallenstein's eight children. Over the course of his life, Weber Sr. held posts as a lawyer, civil servant, and parliamentarian for the National Liberal Party in the Prussian Landtag and German Reichstag . His involvement in public life immersed his home in both politics and academia, as his salon welcomed scholars and public figures such as

23814-417: Was caused by his support for value-freedom in the social sciences, as that was a controversial position in the association. Weber – alongside Simmel, Sombart, and Tönnies – placed an abbreviated form of it into the association's statutes, prompting criticism from its other members. In the same year, Weber and his wife befriended a former student of his, Else von Richthofen , and

23976-527: Was coined in 1908 by the Austrian-American economist Joseph Schumpeter as a way of referring to Weber's views on how to explain social phenomena. While his research interests placed a strong emphasis on interpreting economic history , Weber's support of methodological individualism represented a break with the historical school and an agreement with the Austrian school's founder, Carl Menger, in

24138-723: Was cremated in the Munich Ostfriedhof after a secular ceremony, and the urn that contained his ashes was later buried in the Heidelberg Bergfriedhof  [ de ] in 1921. The funeral service was attended by his students, including Eduard Baumgarten  [ de ] and Karl Loewenstein , and fellow scholars, such as Lujo Brentano. At the time of his death, Weber had not finished writing Economy and Society , his magnum opus on sociological theory. His widow, Marianne, helped prepare it for its publication in 1922. She later published

24300-512: Was established. The exercise of civil and civic rights and admission to state office were independent of one's religious beliefs. Public declaration of religious beliefs was not required, and no one was forced to join in a religious act or swear a religious oath. Five articles from this section of the Constitution (Nos. 136–139 and 141) were incorporated into the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (passed in 1949) and remain constitutional law in Germany today. Articles 142 to 150 guided

24462-406: Was found in the desire to work hard in a way that pleased the worker and signified their worth and originally had a basis in theology. In particular, the Protestant work ethic motivated the believers to work hard, be successful in business, and reinvest their profits in further development rather than frivolous pleasures. Weber thought that self-restraint, hard work, and a belief that wealth could be

24624-438: Was in understanding the processes of rationalisation , secularisation , and disenchantment . He formulated a thesis arguing that such processes were associated with the rise of capitalism and modernity. Weber also argued that the Protestant work ethic influenced the creation of capitalism in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism . It was followed by The Economic Ethics of the World Religions , where he examined

24786-720: Was killed near Brest-Litovsk in 1915 while fighting in the war. Weber had previously viewed him negatively but his death made him feel more connected to him. He and his wife also participated in the 1917 Lauenstein Conferences that were held at Lauenstein Castle  [ de ] in Bavaria . These conferences were planned by the publisher Eugen Diederichs and brought together intellectuals, including Theodor Heuss , Ernst Toller , and Werner Sombart. Weber's presence elevated his profile in Germany and served to dispel some of

24948-400: Was left incomplete as a result of his sudden death in 1920, which prevented him from following Ancient Judaism with studies of early Christianity and Islam. The three main themes within the books were: religious ideas' effect on economic activities, the relationship between social stratification and religious ideas, and the distinguishable characteristics of Western civilisation . His goal

25110-501: Was obligated to either proclaim the law into force or to call for a referendum. Constitutional amendments were proposed as ordinary legislation, but for such an amendment to take effect, it was required that two-thirds or more of the Reichstag members be present and that at least two-thirds of the members present vote in favor of the legislation. The Reich government had the authority to establish administrative regulations unless Reich law specified otherwise. Articles 78 to 101 described

25272-401: Was on individuals and culture. Whereas Durkheim focused on society, Weber concentrated on the individual and their actions. Meanwhile, compared to Marx's support for the primacy of the material world over the world of ideas, Weber valued ideas as motivating individuals' actions. He had a different perspective from the two of them regarding structure and action and macrostructure in that he

25434-503: Was open to the idea that social phenomena could have several different causes and placed importance on social actors ' interpretations of their actions. The result of what has been said so far is that an "objective" treatment of cultural occurrences, in the sense that the ideal aim of scientific work would be to reduce the empirical [reality] to "laws", is absurd. Not because – as it has often been claimed – the course of cultural processes or, say, processes in

25596-507: Was passed in July 1921. The second part of the Weimar Constitution laid out the basic rights and obligations of Germans. The German Civil Code of 1900, which included sections on personal rights and domestic relations, remained in effect. The constitution guaranteed individual rights such as freedom of speech and assembly to each citizen. They were based on the provisions of the earlier constitution of 1848 . Articles 109 to 118 set forth

25758-461: Was primarily young Germans with different political perspectives, including communists . While neither of them were able to convince the other of their points, Weber was more cautious and careful in his arguments against Spengler than the other debaters were. Afterwards, the students did not feel that the question of how to resolve Germany's post-war issues had been answered. Lili Schäfer, one of Weber's sisters, committed suicide on 7 April 1920 after

25920-422: Was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose lower house, the Reichstag , was elected by universal suffrage using proportional representation . The appointed upper house, the Reichsrat , represented the interests of the federal states. The president of Germany had supreme command over

26082-431: Was the only great power that actually desired the war. He also regarded Germany as not having been culpable for its invasion of Belgium , viewing Belgian neutrality as having obscured an alliance with France . Overall, Weber's political efforts were largely unsuccessful, with the exception of his support for a democratically elected and strong presidency. On 28 January 1919, after his electoral defeat, Weber delivered

26244-524: Was to find reasons for the different developmental paths of the cultures of the Western world and the Eastern world , without making value-judgements, unlike the contemporaneous social Darwinists . Weber simply wanted to explain the distinctive elements of Western civilisation. Weber also proposed a socio-evolutionary model of religious change where societies moved from magic to ethical monotheism , with

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