Max Weber Verstehen ( Intepretative Understanding)

This slide contains the philosophy of Max Weber about 'Verstehen' or 'Interpretative Understanding' of Social Reality. Max Weber suggests a method to gain knowledge about society through 'Verstehen'. This method is very popular in Social Science Research.

1. MAX WEBER
-Presented by:
Mr. Deep Gurung
Doctoral Research Fellow
Department of Business
Administration
TezpurUniversity
(Dated: 19/09/2014)
VERSTEHEN

2. MAX WEBER (A short Biography)
1864-1920
AttendedHeidelberg
Studiedlaw,medievalhistory,economicsand
philosophy
Joinedmilitaryservice
Became lawyerandstartedteachingin
UniversityofBerlin
In1893,taughteconomicsatUniversityof
Freiburgandthenmoved tochairof
economicsatHeidelburg.

3. WORKS OF MAX WEBER
TheProtestantEthicandtheSpiritof
Capitalism.
TheReligionofChina:Confucianismand
Taoism(1916)
TheReligionofIndia:TheSociologyof
HinduismandBuddhism(1916-17)
TheSociologyofReligion(1921)
EconomyandSociety(diedduringthis
work)

4. SOCIOLOGY DEFINED
MaxWeberdefinedsociologyas,
“Asciencewhichattemptsthe
interpretativeunderstandingof
socialactioninordertherebyto
arriveatacausalexplanationofits
courseandeffects.”

5. CAUSALITY
Probabilityofanevenfollowingan
event
Weberthought“Insocialresearch
causalcertaintyisimpossible”
Tounderstandhumanactionwe
needadifferentmethod(otherthan
naturalsciencemethod)

6. VERSTEHEN
Germantermthatmeanstounderstand,
perceive,know,andcomprehend the
natureandsignificanceofaphenomenon
InSociology,itmeans systematic
interpretiveprocess ofmeaningful
understanding
Referstounderstandingthemeaningof
actionfromtheactor'spointofview

7. SOCIAL ACTION
Socialactionmeantactiononthepartof
individualsparticipatinginsocial
relationships.
Thesocialactiontheoryseessocietyas
beingallabouthowpeopleinteract.
Meaningfulaction:Takesaccountofthe
behaviorofothersandistherebyoriented
initscourse

8. TYPES OF SOCIAL ACTION
1.TraditionalSocialAction:
a)Guidedbycustomsandlongstandingbeliefs
b)Peopleengageinthistypeofactionoften
unthinkingly
2.Affectiveaction:
a)Resultsfromtheemotionalstateofmindof
theactor
b)Basedontheemotionalstateoftheperson

9. 3.Rationalactioninrelationtoa
goal(Zweckrational)
Actioninwhichthemeanstoattainaparticular
goalarerationallychosen
4.Rationalactioninrelationtoa
value(Wertrational)
value-orientedrationality
valuescomefromwithinanethical,religious,
philosophicalcontext
Goalwhichinitselfmaynotberational
Pursuedthroughrationalmeans

10. FRIEDRICH
NIETZSCHE
“Psychological
Insight”
KARL MARX
“primacy of
material
conditions “
Marx
Weber
“Social
Action”

11. IDEAL TYPE
Toolforinterpretativeunderstandingsocial
actionisIdealType
Amethodologicaltooltounderstandand
analyzesocialreality
Amodel,forthescrutinyandsystematic
characterizationofaconcretesituation
Meansbywhichtocategorize,interpret,
andpredictsocialactions

12. BUREAUCRACY IDEAL TYPE
Asystemofgovernmentinwhich
mostoftheimportantdecisionsare
takenbystateofficialsratherthanby
electedrepresentatives.
1.Officialbusinessisconductedona
continuousbasis.
2.Businessisconductedinaccordance
withstipulatedrules.
3.Everyofficial’sresponsibilityand
authorityareapartofahierarchyof
authority.

13. 4.Officialsdonotowntheresources
necessaryforthemtoperformtheir
assignedfunctions,buttheyare
accountablefortheuseofthose
resources.
5.Officescannotbeappropriatedby
theirincumbentsinthesenseof
propertythatcanbeinheritedorsold.
6.Officialbusinessisconductedonthe
basisofwrittendocuments.
[** Source: Economy and Society (1925)]

14. AUTHORITY
Authority
Legitimatepowertogiveorders,
make decisions,and enforce
obedience
associatedwithsocialpositions
Power
Abilitytoimposeone’swillonto
another
Associatedwithpersonality

15. TYPES OF AUTHORITY
Rational-legalauthorityisbasedon
rationalruleslegallyorcontractually
established; characterized by
bureaucracies
TraditionalAuthorityisdominanttypein
pre-modernsocieties;characterizedby
monarchies
Charismaticauthorityrestsonappealof
leaderandisnaturallyunstable;
characterizedbyHitler