The Cambridge Companion to Weber

Front Cover
Stephen Turner
Cambridge University Press, Apr 13, 2000 - History - 288 pages
Max Weber is indubitably one of the very greatest figures in the history of the social sciences, the source of seminal concepts like 'the Protestant Ethic', 'charisma' and the idea of historical processes of 'rationalization'. But, like his great forebears Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Weber's work always resists easy categorisation. Prominent as a founding father of sociology, Weber has been a major influence in the study of ancient history, religion, economics, law and, more recently, cultural studies. This Cambridge Companion provides an authoritative introduction to the major facets of his thought, including several (like industrial psychology) which have hitherto been neglected. A distinguished international team of contributors examines some of the major controversies that have erupted over Weber's specialized work, and shows how the issues have developed since he wrote. The articles demonstrate Weber's impact on a variety of research areas.

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Contents

Introduction
7
Rationality rationalization and psychology
25
Rationality economy and society
27
Rationalization and culture
48
Psychophysics and culture
65
Politics and culture
87
The rule of man over man politics power and legitimation
89
Weber on the cultural situation of the modern age
105
Religions and their economic ethics
155
Max Webers Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
157
Max Webers Orient
178
Max Webers Ancient Judaism
206
Law and economics
227
Max Weber as legal historian
229
From agrarian history to crosscultural comparisons Weber on GrecoRoman antiquity
246
Max Weber as economist and economic historian
262

Global capitalism and multiethnicity Max Weber then and now
123
Constitutional Caesarism Webers politics in their German context
137

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