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From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology| Media: | Paperback | | Author: | Max Weber | | Publisher: | Oxford University Press | | Release date: | 01 December, 1958 | | Our price: | $31.00 |
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| From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology |
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Seminal Work By Classic Social Theorist Max Weber |
What is most curious about the home page for this classic academic work is that Amazon does not explain that this text is the fruit of one the most singularly important academic translations in the 20th century, accomplished by the team of sociologists Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills (who later became an immensely influential classic sociologist himself). First published after the Second World War, the text provided access at long last to a treasure trove of previously untranslated works by Weber for the American academic community, and thus transformed the nature of the way American social scientists understood modern social theory.
It is no exaggeration to say that Weber's genius was his ability to successfully integrate the critical essence of the Marxian analysis of capitalist society with more functionally-oriented works such that even as stodgy and conservative a theorist as Talcott Parson soon found common analytical purpose with Weber's theoretical views! before long all the academic community was enthralled by the scope and verve of Weber's complex vision of a social theory informed with a comprehensive view of social action, such that all social actions can be meaningfully located within the welter of the purposes, motives, and values of the interacting individuals themselves. This was indeed an intelelctual revolution within social theory, and we can still find bibliophiles and academic devotees still poring over the nuances and variations in themes in Weber's considerable body of works.
After the publication of these essays, much more of his corpus of works was successfully translated and used in American university settings. Yet Weber's prose was never an "easy read", nor was his message about the evolving nature of contemporary bureaucratic society necessarily a heartening one; he was convinced we were turning toward a dark and mechanistic age, what he himself frequently characterized as being the "iron cage" of rationalization. His was the dark vision later shared by intellectuals like Aldous Huxley of a brave new world of petty diversions and a systematic but innocuous autocratic manipulation of everyman. Still, Weber's works stand as a testament to the power of an individual intellect. I recommend this book for anyone interested in better understanding him and his theoretical views. Enjoy!
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| From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology - Max Weber |
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excellent introduction to Weber's work |
| Gerth and Mills' reader provides an excellent introduction to Weber's life and thought. This edition includes excerpts from _Economy and Society_, the brilliant essays ``Politics as a Vocation'' and ``Science as a Vocation,'' plus a brief critical biography and material from other sources. Weber had so much to say about so many subjects that any anthology would require a well-considered method of organization; this book has that. It is easy to navigate. When I want to know what Weber said about a particular subject, I look in _From Max Weber_. |
| Max Weber - From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology |
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