Max Weber: A Skeleton Key

166 Pages·1986·4.766 MB·English

by  Randall Collins

MAX WEBER
Masters of Social Theory
Volume 3
MASTERS OF SOCIAL THEORY
Series Editor:
Jonathan H. Turner, University of California, Riverside
This new series of short volumes presents prominent social theorists of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Current theory in sociology involves analy¬
sis of these early thinkers’ work, which attests to their enduring significance.
However, secondary analysis of their work is often hurried in larger under¬
graduate texts or presented in long scholarly portraits.
Our attempt is to provide both scholarly analysis and also to summarize the
basic, core idea of the individual master. Our goal is to offer both a short
scholarly reference work and individual texts for undergraduate and graduate
students.
In this series:
HERBERT SPENCER by Jonathan H. Turner, University of California,
Riverside
EMILE DURKHEIM by Robert Alun Jones, University of Illinois
MAX WEBER by Randall Collins, University of California, Riverside
Forthcoming volumes and their authors include the following:
ALEXIS de TOCQUEVILLE by Whitney Pope, Indiana University
VILFREDO PARETO by Charles H. Powers, Indiana University
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD by John D. Baldwin, University of California,
Santa Barbara
KARL MARX by Richard P. Appelbaum, University of California,
Santa Barbara
MAX WEBER
A Skeleton Key
Randall Collins
Masters of Social Theory
Volume 3
Cover Photo: Culver Pictures
SAGE PUBLICATIONS Beverly Hills London New Delhi
Copyright © 1986 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized
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Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Collins, Randall, 1941-
Max Weber: a skeleton key.
(Masters of social theory; v. 3)
Includes index.
1. Weber, Max, 1864-1920. 2. Sociology—Germany—
History. I. Title. II. Series.
HM22.G3W4256 1985 301'.01 85-18340
ISBN 0-8039-2550-6
ISBN 0-8039-2551-4 (pbk.)
FIRST PRINTING
Contents
Series Editor’s Introduction 7
1 Weber’s Life and Personality:
Melodramatics and Psychological Mysteries 9
Weber’s Career Pattern 12
Weber’s Breakdown and Its Causes 14
Weber’s Multisided Intellectual Personality 27
2 The Meaning of Ideas in History: Weber’s
Methodological Essays and
Theory of Action 31
Weber as Idealist 33
The Methodenstreif. The Battle of Methods 38
Weber’s Action Theory 42
3 The Meaning of Ideas in History: The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 47
The Protestant Ethic 48
Criticisms of the Protestant Ethic Thesis 51
Weber’s Defense 52
4 Rationalization: The Master Trend
of History? 61
Several Meanings of Rationality 62
Rationalization in Western Music 63
Rationalization as Social Tension 70
5 Weber’s Vision of Social Change 81
The Rise of Rational Capitalism 83
The Weberian Causal Chain 86
Weber’s General Theory of History 94
Weber’s Agrarian Sociology:
Material Conditions and Social Structure 97
The Nature of Ancient Capitalism 99
6 The Comparative Studies of the
World Religions 105
Ancient Judaism 106
The Religion of India 111
The Religion of China 118
7 Weber’s Sociological Encyclopedia 125
Economy and Society 125
Weber’s Comparative Sociology as a
Systematic Theory 130
Weber’s Theory of Stratification 132
Weber’s Contribution to Sociology 138
References 143
Name Index 145
Subject Index 147
About the Author 151