The Rise of Western Rationalism: Max Weber's Developmental History

213 Pages·1992·6.954 MB·English

by  Wolfgang Schluchter

The Rise of Western Rationalism

The Rise of
Western Rationalism
Max Weber's Developmental History
Wolfgang Schluchter
Translated, with an introduction, by
Guenther Roth
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley · Los Angeles · London
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles. California
Universit.v of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
First published in 1979 hy
Verlag J.C.B. Mohr fPaul Sieheckl
© 1981 hy The Regents of the University of California
Fir·st Papt~rhack Printing 1985
ISBN 0·520·05464·4
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging In Publication Data
Schluchter, Wolfgang, 1938-
The rise of Western rationalism.
Translation of: Die Entwicklung des
okzidentalen Rationalismus
I. Weber·, Max, 1864-1920. 2. History-Philosophy.
3. Rationalism. 4. Historical sociology. 5. Religion
and sociolog_v. 6. Political scienee-Philnsophy.
I. Title.
B336l.Z7S3413 301 81·2763
AACR2
''The realm of values is dominated by insoluble conflict, hence by the ne
cessity for continuous compromises. Nobody can definitively decide how the
compromises should be made, unless it be a 'revealed' religion." Max Weber in a
letter to Robert Wilbrandt, April2, 1913. Cited by W.j. Mommsen, Mar Weber
und die deutsche Politik. 1890-1920.

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction by Guenther Roth xv
Chapter I. Introduction 1
Chapter II. Weber's Historical Problem 6
The Distinctiveness of Western Capitalism 6
The Distinctiveness of Western Rationalism 9
Chapter III. The Philosophical Background ofWeber's Developmental
History 13
The Relation to Neo-Kantian Value Theory 13
Value Theory as a Theory ofValue Conflict 19
Chapter IV. The Substantive Content ofWeber's Developmental History 25
A. Presuppositions and Basic Concepts 25
Value-Spheres and Institutional Realms 25
Levels and Dimensions ofS ocial Relations 30
B. Basic Configurations ofSocial Order 39
1. The Ethical Component 39
l)'pology of Ethics 39
Ethics and the Idea of Compensation 48
Ethics and Types of Conscience 59
Revised l)'pology of Ethics 62
Questionable Classifications: Confucianism andjudaism 67
2. The Institutional Component 70
l)'pology of Differentiation 70
Classes and Status Groups 78
viii Contents
Chapter V. '!)'pes of Law and '!)'pes of Domination 82
1. The Relation Between the Sociology of Domination and of
Law 82
2. The Sociology of Law 87
'!)'pes of Law 87
Formal Modes ofL aw 89
Substantive Modes of Law 97
The Differentiation of the Substantive Fields of Law 99
The Relation ofEthics and Law 101
3. The Sociology of Domination 106
Traditional Domination: The Guiding Principle of Personal
Loyalty 106
Rational Domination: The Guiding Principle ofLegality 107
Traditional and Rational Domination Compared 118
Charismatic Domination: The Mission as Guiding
Principle 121
The Sociology of Domination Reconstructed 126
4. Sociology of Domination and 'I)'pology ofA ction 128
5. Preliminary Conclusion 133
Chapter VI. The Role of the Reformation in the Transition to Modernity 139
Methodological Aspects of the Sociology of Religion 139
The Analysis of the Breakthrough in the Study ofA scetic
Protestantism 141
The Analysis of the Breakthrough in the Comparative Studies of
Religion and Economy 148
The Cultural Significance ofC hristianity: A Comparison of the
World Religions 156
The Cultural Significance ofA scetic Protestantism:
A Comparison ofS alvation Movements During the
Reformation 166
Chapter VII. Conclusion 175
Index 177
PREFACE
This study does not intend to interpret all of Max Weber's work, but it is a
systematic analysis with a methodological and a substantive aspect. Methodo
logically, I am concerned with Weber's relationship to evolutionism and neD
evolutionism, substantively with the problem of historical rationalization. A
systematic perspective must not arbitrarily isolate Weber's major writings from
one another. Methodology and substantive sociology must be considered to
gether; the same holds for the sociologies of religion, law, domination and econ
omy from both "parts" of Economy and Society and for the studies on the eco
nomic ethics of the world religions. The present analysis builds upon and
elaborates my previous effort, in Max Weber~ Vi.sion ofHi.story, to explicate We
ber's limited evolutionary program and his theory of rationalization on the basis
of the sociology of religion alone.
I have benefitted from many discussions and suggestions, which I have not
always been able to document. I would like to single out the conference on We
ber's theory of rationalization at the University of Constance in 1977 (published
by Constans Seyfarth and Walter Sprondel, eds., Max Weber und das Problem
des gesellschaftlichen Handelns, Stuttgart: Enke, 1981) and the seminar on We
ber's value theory and theory of history that I conducted with Dieter Henrich at
the University of Heidelberg in 1977. I would also like to mention a discussion
withjiirgen Habermas and his staff at the Max Planck Institute at Starnberg in
1978. I have greatly profited from Habermas' forthcoming study on action ra
tionality and system rationality, which I read as a manuscript. Finally, I recall
the many conversations I had with Guenther Roth during the writing of the
manuscript in the summer of1978.
Brigitte Schluchter supported the writing of the book in many ways, and I
would like to thank her especially.
Heidelberg Wol(~ang Schluchter