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Max Weber, Religion, and the Disenchantment of the World

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Abstract

This article offers a re-evaluation of Max Weber’s analyses of both the disenchantment of the world and the origins of capitalism.

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Notes

  1. Science as a Vocation, p.8. A productive pursuit of the relation between Weber’s observations on passion, inspiration, and knowledge and Michael Polanyi’s Personal Knowledge (London: Routledge & Kegal Paul, 1962) is possible here.

  2. For the academic ethic, see (Shils 1997).

  3. Science as a Vocation, pp.17–18.

  4. See, for example (Weber 2004b).

  5. The ambiguity of “interest” can be seen by posing one question: Is there or isn’t there the possibility of an interest in being disinterested? There are methodological problems here. Weber certainly and rightly upheld the principle of methodological individualism; but careful consideration of his analytical framework properly leads one to recognizing the need to qualify—by no means reject—methodological individualism. I cannot pursue this complication here.

  6. Economy and Society, p.953.

  7. Economy and Society, pp.212–54.

  8. See, for example, the “Introduction” to The Protestant Ethic, written years later as the introduction to the collection of Weber’s writings on religion, and Weber’s essay (Weber 1958)

  9. For Coke’s use of “artificial reason” see “Prohibitions de Roy” and “First Institute 97b” in (Sheppard 2003). For Hobbes’ criticisms (Cromartie and Skinner 2005); and for Matthew Hale’s defense of Coke’s “artificial reason,” “Reflections by the Lrd. Cheife Justice Hale on Mr. Hobbes His Dialogue of the Lawe,” Frederick Pollock, “Sir Matthew Hale on Hobbes: An Unpublished Ms.”, 37 Law Quarterly Review (1921), 274–303. On the development of the legal principle of precedent, see (Plucknett 2010).

  10. For an excellent analysis of Psalm 82 and its relation to the development of monotheism, see (Machinist 2011).

  11. For the variation, see Max Weber, “The Social Psychology of the World Religions,” in From Max Weber, pp.267–301. For the axial age, see (Jaspers 1953) and (Eisenstadt 1986).

  12. See previous note.

  13. There is an enormously rich and large literature on the development of modern capitalism, a few recent examples of which are (North and Thomas 2006; Jones 2003; Baechler et al. 1988; Rosenberg and Birdzell 1986).

  14. See, for example (Berman 1983; Berman 2003),

  15. Douglass C. North and Robert Paul Thomas, The Rise of the Western World, p.154.

  16. General Economic History, p.312.

  17. See, for example (Hayek 1955).

  18. For Weber’s discussion of Gierke, see Economy and Society, pp.717–21. For Maitland, see, for example, “Moral Personality and Legal Personality” and “Trust and Corporation” in H.D. Hazeltine et al., Maitland: Selected Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1936).

  19. Economy and Society, p.991.

  20. Economy and Society, pp.1401,1156,1150,975.

  21. See (Shils 1987).

  22. For the commenda, see, for example (Pryor 1977).

  23. Pryor, 26–29.

  24. General Economic History, pp.206–07,225–27.

  25. See Steven Grosby, “Philanthropy, Law, and Associational Liberty: A Few Remarks on Gierke’s Genossenschaftsrecht,” Conversations on Philanthropy, Vol. IX.

  26. Politics as a Vocation, p.53–54.

  27. Politics as a Vocation, p.44.

  28. Science as a Vocation, p.22.

  29. Politics as a Vocation, p.78.

  30. Science as a Vocation, p.24,26.

  31. Politics as a Vocation, p.92.

  32. Politics as a Vocation, p.76.

  33. Politics as a Vocation, p.76.

  34. Economy and Society, p.1133.

  35. Politics as a Vocation, p.91.

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  1. Department of Philosophy & Religion, 126D Hardin Hall, Clemson, SC, 29634-0528, USA

    Steven Grosby

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Grosby, S. Max Weber, Religion, and the Disenchantment of the World. Soc 50, 301–310 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-013-9664-y

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