person1864–1920

Max Weber

Disciplines:

Summary

German sociologist and political economist — author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Economy and Society, and Science as a Vocation — who created the concepts of ideal types, bureaucracy, legitimacy, and disenchantment — one of the three founders of sociology (with Marx and Durkheim).

Core Contribution

Creates the Protestant Ethic thesis and the sociology of domination — Weber's argument (that the Protestant work ethic, especially Calvinist predestination, enabled capitalist accumulation by sanctifying worldly success) is the most discussed thesis in economic sociology; his typology of domination (traditional, charismatic, rational-legal) provides the framework for all modern institutional analysis.

Key Spikes & Highlights

Had a psychiatric breakdown in 1897 that incapacitated him for 4 years — he attributed it partly to an unresolved conflict with his father who died shortly after; his return to scholarship produced his most important work; his breakdown is the most studied case of how serious psychological crisis can reorganize an intellectual career
Defined the state as the institution claiming a monopoly on legitimate violence within a given territory — a definition so precisely useful that it is now standard across political science, law, and philosophy; his ability to produce definitions of enduring utility from his sociological analysis distinguishes him from most social theorists

Notable Works & Achievements

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Economy and Society

Science as a Vocation

Politics as a Vocation

Historical Influences

Karl Marx Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche

Intellectual Lineage

Erfurt, Prussia Heidelberg Berlin Munich

Contemporaries & Peers

Georg Simmel Émile Durkheim Ernst Troeltsch

Minds Influenced

Modern sociology Political science

Intellectual Posterity

The Protestant Ethic Ideal type Disenchantment Rational-legal domination Bureaucracy theory Weber as sociology founder

Discussing

Max Weber

Ask anything about Max Weber — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

person1864–1920

Max Weber

Disciplines:

Summary

Core Contribution

Key Spikes & Highlights

Had a psychiatric breakdown in 1897 that incapacitated him for 4 years — he attributed it partly to an unresolved conflict with his father who died shortly after; his return to scholarship produced his most important work; his breakdown is the most studied case of how serious psychological crisis can reorganize an intellectual career
Defined the state as the institution claiming a monopoly on legitimate violence within a given territory — a definition so precisely useful that it is now standard across political science, law, and philosophy; his ability to produce definitions of enduring utility from his sociological analysis distinguishes him from most social theorists

Notable Works & Achievements

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Economy and Society

Science as a Vocation

Politics as a Vocation

Historical Influences

Karl Marx Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche

Intellectual Lineage

Erfurt, Prussia Heidelberg Berlin Munich

Contemporaries & Peers

Georg Simmel Émile Durkheim Ernst Troeltsch

Minds Influenced

Modern sociology Political science

Intellectual Posterity

The Protestant Ethic Ideal type Disenchantment Rational-legal domination Bureaucracy theory Weber as sociology founder

Discussing

Max Weber

Ask anything about Max Weber — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.