MAX WEBER (1864-1920)

Ø Was a bridge between positivists and anti-positivists

Ø He agreed positivists in their approach of the society being constituted by
cause and effect. But he said that the aspect of human consciousness should
also be taken into consideration (anti-positivist perspective)

The rationalisation of social life

In Weber's usage, 'rational' refers to the attempt to work out means to ends and to
the attempt to develop a systematic understanding of things so that ends can also
be worked out systematically and can even be ranked by calculation.

According to him, behavior of man in society is qualitatively different from that of

physical objects and biological organism. (What accounts for these differences?)

The presence of 'meanings and motives which underlie the social behavior of man.
Thus any study of human behavior in society must take cognizance of these
meanings to understand this behavior.
Ø The objectives of sociological study are, therefore, different from those of
positive science. While positive science seeks to discover the underlying
patterns of interactions between various aspects of physical and natural
phenomena, the social science, on the other hand, seek to understand the
meanings and motives to explain the social phenomena in terms of these
motivations.
Ø Hence positive science method alone would prove inadequate to study the
social behavior. However. Weber opposed to building generalization in
social sciences, but, he pointed out that given the variable nature of was
not social phenomena, only limited generalization can be made.

SUBJECT MATTER of SOCIOLOGY

Weber conceived of SOCIOLOGY as a comprehensive science of social action,
which constitutes the basic unit of social life. Max Weber conceives sociology as a
comprehensive science of social action. He focuses on the subjective meanings that
human actors attach to their actions and interactions within their specific social-
historical contexts. Social action had to be comprehended in terms of the meanings
governing people's actions, and it had to be explained in terms of causal antecedents
and their effects.
Weber rejects the positivist notion that the aims and methods of natural sciences and
social or cultural sciences are the same. He takes the stand that the human being, in
contrast to things or natural objects, has certain underlying motivations, which the
sociologist must try to understand.
METHODOLOGY
• According to Weber the aim of Sociology is different from those of Physical
and Natural Sciences. Natural Sciences are primarily interested in search for
laws or the underlying patterns of interconnections. Sociology seeks to
understand social behavior in terms of meanings and motives, though
sociology also attempts to arrive at limited generalization. Therefore,
social science cannot rely on positive science method alone.
• Weber advocated ‘Verstehen method’ to study the social phenomena.
• First step involved in this method is ‘Direct Observational
Understanding’ of the obvious subjective meanings of actor’s behavior.
Second step involves, establishing an empathetic liaison with the actor.
• Further, Weber states that social reality by its very nature is infinitely
compiled and cannot be comprehended in its totality by the human
mind. Therefore, sociologists should build “ideal types”. Ideal type is a
one-sided view of social reality which takes into account certain aspects of
social life while ignoring others. Which aspects are to be given importance
to, and which are to be ignored depends upon the object of study.
• According to Weber, the social reality is extremely complex and therefore
no social phenomena can be explained adequately in terms of a single cause.
An adequate sociological explanation must therefore be based on the
principle of causal pluralism. Weber’s thesis on “the Protestant Ethics and
Spirit of Capitalism” is a very good example of the application of this
methodology.

SOCIAL ACTION
Action is social when the actor behaves in such a manner that his action is intended
to influence the action of one or more other persons. According to Weber “Action
is social, in so far as, by virtue of subjective meaning attached to it by the acting
individual, it takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its
course.”
According to Max Weber “Sociology is a science which attempts the interpretative
understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of
its cause and effects”. Here we can point out the following important elements of
social action
i) social action includes all human behavior.

ii) social action attaches a subjective meaning to it.

iii) the acting individual or individuals take into account the behavior of others.

iv) social action is oriented and reoriented in its course.