A scholar said Max Weber expected to reflect on the modern western cultural world through his sociology works.
Themed "Indigenization and Discourse Construction in the Study of the Sociology of Religion in the New Era", the 2021 Academic Annual Conference of the Chinese Sociological Association was hosted at Southwest University in Chongqing, from 16 to 18 July.
In the sub-forum of Sociology of Religion in the 2021 conference, hosted by the Chinese Sociological Society held on July 17, Chi Shuai, lecturer of sociology department of Nankai University, delivered a lecture entitled “Max Weber’s Sociology in His Later Years - Its Origin, Composition, and Issues”.
“Weber’s sociology emerged in his later years because of his personal life history and his academic career history,” Chi explained.
First of all, he briefly introduced the founding causes of Weber’s sociology, including Weber’s personal life and political inclination, which played an active role in exploring the cultural significance in sociology. Weber’s discussion on social science methodology was derived from the methodological dispute between the historical and the theoretical schools in the 19th century. The origin of modern capitalism in the 19th century became an important issue of concern to many scholars. Weber’s studies and research on Protestant ethics and capitalism had provoked several confrontations with other scholars.
“The works such as Economy and Society and From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology were the main concerns of Weber’s sociology in his late years.” He continued, “What was the relationship between the two works? According to Wolfgang Schluchter’s point of view, it was necessary to trace the history of the two.”
Before 1909, Economy and Society was called Handbook of Political Economy, which had different versions. Dominant sociology was one of the core contents of Economy and Society. In the authoritative version of Weber’s Complete Works, Economic Ethics of World Religions also had different parts. As an important work in Weber’s religious sociology research, Essays in Sociology also occupied a special position in Weber’s thoughts. His ideology shifted after The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism showed that the parallel development of the relationship between Essays in Sociology and Economy, Social Order and Power had its own emphasis.
Chi said, “This reflected that the theme of Weber’s works was changing, but at the same time, it had managed to maintain unity in the change, reflecting the coherence between the two. Schluchter pointed out that Fundamentals of Social Economics and Essays in Sociology had different research perspectives on the concept of development and of application. The former used the concept of development, while the latter reflected the concept of application.”
Weber’s later topics were economics and politics, not economics and religion.
“Weber’s discussion of historical materialism involved three aspects,” he said. “The criticism of historical materialism led to criticism and counter-criticism, and involved methodology and content as well as the discussion of the relationship between ideas and ignorant interests. Rationalization also constituted an important topic in Weber’s works. Schluchter believed that Weber hoped to successfully reflect on the modern western cultural world.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
在宗教社会学理论主题讲座中，南开大学社会学系讲师迟帅分享了题为“韦伯晚期社会学：缘起，结构与议题”的讲座。
“韦伯晚期社会学有其个人生活史和学术史的原因，”迟帅老师分享说。
首先，迟帅老师简要介绍了韦伯社会学的创立缘由，包括韦伯个人生活史和政治倾向对他发掘社会学中的文化意义起到了能动作用，韦伯关于社会科学方法论的讨论来自于19世纪历史学派和理论学派之间的方法论之争，19世纪现代资本主义起源问题成为不少学者关心的重要问题，韦伯关于新教伦理与资本主义的研究经历了与其他学者的数次交锋。
“《经济与社会》和《宗教社会学论文集》是韦伯晚期社会学的主要关注点。”迟老师接着分享到：“两者之间构成什么关系，按照施鲁赫特的观点，需要追溯两者的发生史。”
《经济与社会》在1909年之前叫做《政治经济学手册》，有着不同的版本。支配社会学是《经济与社会》的核心内容之一。在权威版韦伯全集里，《世界宗教的经济伦理》也有不同部分构成。《宗教社会学论文集》作为韦伯宗教社会学研究的重要著作在韦伯思想中也占有特殊位置。韦伯在《新教伦理》之后的思想转向说明《宗教社会学论文集》与《经济、诸社会秩序与权力》二者关系平行发展各有侧重。
迟老师说：“这反映了韦伯著作的主题是变化的，但同时在变化中有其统一性，反映了二者之间的连贯性。施鲁赫特指出《社会经济大纲》和《宗教社会学论文集》在概念发展和概念应用方面互有侧重，形成了两种不同的研究视角。前者用语概念发展，后者则体现了概念应用。”
韦伯晚期涉猎的议题是经济和政治，而非经济和宗教。“韦伯对历史唯物主义的讨论涉及到了三个方面的内容，”他说：“对历史唯物主义的批判引来了批评与反批评，同时涉及到方法论和内容问题，也涉及到对理念和无知利益的关系讨论。理性化也构成了韦伯论著的重要议题。施鲁赫特认为韦伯希望能够成功做到对现代西方文化世界的自我反省。”
宗教社会学者讲座分享：韦伯晚期社会学——缘起，结构与议题
A scholar said Max Weber expected to reflect on the modern western cultural world through his sociology works.
Themed "Indigenization and Discourse Construction in the Study of the Sociology of Religion in the New Era", the 2021 Academic Annual Conference of the Chinese Sociological Association was hosted at Southwest University in Chongqing, from 16 to 18 July.
In the sub-forum of Sociology of Religion in the 2021 conference, hosted by the Chinese Sociological Society held on July 17, Chi Shuai, lecturer of sociology department of Nankai University, delivered a lecture entitled “Max Weber’s Sociology in His Later Years - Its Origin, Composition, and Issues”.
“Weber’s sociology emerged in his later years because of his personal life history and his academic career history,” Chi explained.
First of all, he briefly introduced the founding causes of Weber’s sociology, including Weber’s personal life and political inclination, which played an active role in exploring the cultural significance in sociology. Weber’s discussion on social science methodology was derived from the methodological dispute between the historical and the theoretical schools in the 19th century. The origin of modern capitalism in the 19th century became an important issue of concern to many scholars. Weber’s studies and research on Protestant ethics and capitalism had provoked several confrontations with other scholars.
“The works such as Economy and Society and From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology were the main concerns of Weber’s sociology in his late years.” He continued, “What was the relationship between the two works? According to Wolfgang Schluchter’s point of view, it was necessary to trace the history of the two.”
Before 1909, Economy and Society was called Handbook of Political Economy, which had different versions. Dominant sociology was one of the core contents of Economy and Society. In the authoritative version of Weber’s Complete Works, Economic Ethics of World Religions also had different parts. As an important work in Weber’s religious sociology research, Essays in Sociology also occupied a special position in Weber’s thoughts. His ideology shifted after The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism showed that the parallel development of the relationship between Essays in Sociology and Economy, Social Order and Power had its own emphasis.
Chi said, “This reflected that the theme of Weber’s works was changing, but at the same time, it had managed to maintain unity in the change, reflecting the coherence between the two. Schluchter pointed out that Fundamentals of Social Economics and Essays in Sociology had different research perspectives on the concept of development and of application. The former used the concept of development, while the latter reflected the concept of application.”
Weber’s later topics were economics and politics, not economics and religion.
“Weber’s discussion of historical materialism involved three aspects,” he said. “The criticism of historical materialism led to criticism and counter-criticism, and involved methodology and content as well as the discussion of the relationship between ideas and ignorant interests. Rationalization also constituted an important topic in Weber’s works. Schluchter believed that Weber hoped to successfully reflect on the modern western cultural world.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
Scholar: Max Weber’s Sociology in His Later Years
