Summary Of "Economy And Society" By Max Weber: UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES

By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

We have summarized the essentials of the following chapters and sections of this fundamental book of contemporary Sociology: 1- "Fundamental sociological concepts" (some of them: social action, domination, social relation, association, among others), 3- "Types of domination" (rational-legal, traditional, charismatic), 9- "Sociology of domination" (power, domination, objectification and routinization of charisma, modern political parties and parliaments, the rational state, modern state, living from and for politics, bureaucracy and democracy, among many other topics), 8- the section "Division of power in the community: classes, estates and parties".

• Language: English
• Publisher: BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU
• Release date: Oct 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201822903

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Mauricio Enrique Fau nació en Buenos Aires en 1965. Se recibió de Licenciado en Ciencia Política en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cursó también Derecho en la UBA y Periodismo en la Universidad de Morón. Realizó estudios en FLACSO Argentina. Docente de la UBA y AUTOR DE MÁS DE 3.000 RESÚMENES de Psicología, Sociología, Ciencia Política, Antropología, Derecho, Historia, Epistemología, Lógica, Filosofía, Economía, Semiología, Educación y demás disciplinas de las Ciencias Sociales. Desde 2005 dirige La Bisagra Editorial, especializada en técnicas de estudio y materiales que facilitan la transición desde la escuela secundaria a la universidad. Por intermedio de La Bisagra publicó 38 libros. Participa en diversas ferias del libro, entre ellas la Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires y la FIL Guadalajara.

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Summary Of Economy And Society By Max Weber

UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Published by BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU, 2021.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

SUMMARY OF ECONOMY AND SOCIETY BY MAX WEBER

First edition. October 6, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

ISBN: 979-8201822903

Written by MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

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Title Page

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Summary Of Economy And Society By Max Weber (UNIVERSITY SUMMARIES)

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Further Reading: Summary Of The Politician And The Scientist By Max Weber

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Weber, Max

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

CHAPTER 1 

1- FUNDAMENTAL SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

SOCIOLOGY

A science that seeks first to interpret social action, to understand it and then to be able to explain it causally.

ACTION: human conduct in which the subject (actor) links to it a SUBJECTIVE MEANING.

SOCIAL ACTION: action in which the subjective meaning is REFERRED TO THE CONDUCT OF OTHERS.

METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

MEANING:

The mentate and subjective sense of the subjects of the action (intention or motivation):

(a) existing in fact:

1) in a historical case.

2) as average

b) as constructed in an IDEAL TYPE

- MEANINGFUL ACTION AND SIMPLY REACTIVE BEHAVIOR

The boundaries between the one and the other type of action are only understood to be linked to the subjectively mentored meaning of non-reactive actions.

- THE EVIDENCE:

The evidence of understanding can be of character:

(a) Rational: logical or mathematical understanding. This evidence is IMMEDIATE AND UNIVocal:

1) grasping of logical and mathematical propositions.

2) grasping of a PRACTICAL SILOGISM: it is a reasoning in which the premises are the ends or the END of the subject and furthermore the means needed for the realization of the end and whose conclusion is ACTION.

Example:

I am thirsty (I want to quench my thirst).

Thirst is quenched if a drinkable liquid is ingested.

I drink water (ACTION)

b) Endopathic: affective, receptive-artistic comprehension

We can relive the states we imagine in our studied subject with greater EVIDENCE according to the type of affect and its compatibility with our CHARACTER.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF TYPE CONSTRUCTION INVESTIGATES AND EXPOSES ALL THE IRRATIONAL SENSE CONNECTIONS OF THE BEHAVIOR THAT INFLUENCE AS A DEVIATION FROM WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A RATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO PURPOSES.

Type construction has the advantage of allowing the use of clear and unambiguous concepts. The disadvantage lies in the ever-present difference between the typical and the actual action.

- PROCESSES AND OBJECTS OUTSIDE THE MEANING

Everything that does not appear in the action AS ITS MEANING, that is, everything that cannot be reconstructed as means or end of the human action, are only with respect to the action OCCASION, STIMULUS AND OBSTACLE.

In spite of being data that do not belong to the sense of action, they are relevant data for sociological research, although SECONDARY. An example is the data provided by the science of physiology.

- UNDERSTANDING:

Interpretive grasp of meaning or connection of meaning:

(a) ACTUALLY felt in a particular situation

b) mentate on average (sociology of the masses)

c) constructed by the METHOD OF TYPES OR TYPOLOGICAL for the elaboration of an ideal type of a frequent phenomenon.

(Example: economic laws are built on expected types of behavior: when prices increase, demand decreases, i.e. less people consume because they do not want to waste their money).

HYPOTHETICAL NATURE OF THE INTERPRETATION OF MEANING: NO INTERPRETATION OF MEANING, HOWEVER EVIDENT IT MAY BE, GUARANTEES THAT WE ARE IN FRONT OF THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE ACTION.

THREE REASONS TO DISTRUST interpretations:

1) Many times the actor himself ignores the true causes of his own action and believes that they are others.

2) Different connections of meaning can give rise to actions of similar appearance (Example: two young men enlist in the army and die bravely in combat, however the first believed he died defending high ideals and the second believed that the whole war was meaningless, even despised it and had only joined the forces to earn a living).

3) It is common for an action to be the product of the struggle of different meanings, all of them understandable. In this case the difficulty lies in how to establish which of them was decisive.

- MOTIVE:

A motive is called the connection of meaning that appears (to the actor or observer) as the meaningful FOUNDATION of a behavior.

CAUSAL EXPLANATION SAYS THAT ACCORDING TO A CERTAIN PROBABILITY RULE (WHICH IS MEASURED OR NOT BY STATISTICS) A CERTAIN OBSERVED PROCESS IS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER CERTAIN PROCESS.

A CORRECT CAUSAL INTERPRETATION OF AN ACTION MEANS THAT THE EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE MOTIVE HAVE BEEN KNOWN IN A CERTAIN WAY AND AT THE SAME TIME UNDERSTOOD IN A MEANINGFUL WAY IN THEIR CONNECTION.

IF THE ADEQUACY OF meaning is lacking, it is merely a statistical probability not susceptible of comprehension, and therefore unfit to bear the name of sociological law.

There are many processes and regularities that are incomprehensible in this sense of understanding that are nevertheless important for sociology.

- ACTION:

Significantly comprehensible orientation of one's own behavior, it is always INDIVIDUAL. In the case of studying the action of crowds it will be done in consideration of the fact that the crowd is composed of individual actions.

THE OBJECT OF SOCIOLOGY IS THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEANING-CONNECTION OF ACTION.

SOCIOLOGY IS ESPECIALLY fragmentary and hypothetical precisely because it chooses the interpretative type of explanation.

THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL ACTION

SOCIAL ACTION is oriented by the actions of others (determined individuals or not), whether past, present or future. NOT ALL ACTION IS SOCIAL: for example, external action in reference to material objects (taking an object in one's hands), religious behavior, etc., is not.

Not every contact between men has a SOCIAL character, but ONLY WHEN IT IS AN ACTION WITH ITS OWN MEANING ORIENTED TO THE ACTION OF OTHERS, i.e. when the actor gives a meaning to his action, and expects another to grasp that meaning, for example, a collision of two cyclists is not a social action, but an event.  If they were fighting over the collision, then there would be social action. Social action is neither a homogeneous action of many (if everyone opens the umbrella, it is not because of the action of others, but to cover themselves from the rain), nor the action of someone influenced by the behavior of others (action conditioned by the mass without meaningful relation).

§2-

WEBER: TYPES OF SOCIAL ACTION

RATIONAL WITH FITTING TO ENDS, taking into account the behavior of objects and other men in the external world: to go to Chacarita (end) take bus 71 (means).

RATIONAL VALUE-DRIVEN, oriented by conscious belief in the value of a certain behavior, unrelated to its meaning: praying

AFFECTIVE, oriented by feelings: kissing, aggression

TRADITIONAL, oriented by habit: always sitting at the table in the same chair.

THE LATTER, TOGETHER with reactive imitation, are at the limit of meaningful action. Affective action and rational action with respect to values differ from each other because the latter consciously elaborates the ultimate