SOCI 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ideal Type, Empiricism, Materialism
28 Nov 2017
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Document Summary
Max weber: german, 1860-1924, degree in law but extensively studied economics, history, classics, and more, one of the world"s greatest geniuses (and like many, had periods of severe mental illness, most influential of the founding sociologists. Weber"s research: quite varied, looking at religion, the family, economic institutions, politics and the state, etc. Like marx and durkheim, inspired by the social transformations that were going on around him. Paid considerable attention to what allowed western europe to become an economic and political powerhouse. Epistemology: complexity prevents social laws, but we can still find insight into causation. Structure-agency: rejects durkheim"s reification of society, and his theory focuses on individual action. Focuses on the subjective impetus behind action: definition: action occurring when individuals attach subjective meaning to their action, different from instinctual action to a stimulus. Structure: goal was to look at patterns of action and try to explain them, thereby linking structure and agency.
