Module #5 - Weber

Beside value-rational action and instrumental rational action, name two other forms of rational action that Weber does not focus on.

1. Affectual action: emotional; determined by the actor's specific affects and feelings. 2. traditional action: determined by ingrained repetition/exposure

Name three "Ideal Types" and given one example of each.

1. Historical Particularities. ( protestant ethic, modern capitalism) 2. Abstract Entities.(bureaucracies, value rational actions) 3. Rational Behaviour. (economic theories, instrumental rationality)

Name the two types of rational action and two distinctive aspects of both.

1. Instrumental rational action.-formal/technical, calculative (means-end thinking)(A to B) 2. Value rational action.-substantive, not means-end rational calculation(best way A to B)

Name and discuss three key elements of Weber's Methodology.

1. Methodological individualism/Verstehen: an interpretive understanding of the social actions of an individual-through their eyes (why they do what they do) 2. Concept of Ideal Types: used to construct a comparative analysis between two concrete things by accentuating some attributes and ignoring others. 3. Rationalization: the expansion and application of rationalization processes to all spheres of life.

Weber noted 5 key aspects of Modernity and Rationality in his theory. Name them.

1. Modernity and rationalization are a historical process(he tried to see trends) 2. Rationalization is applied to every sphere of life. 3.Bureauracracy is a key characteristic in the modern world. 4. Rationalization of the Market ( "stratification"/structured inequality", closed status groups replaced by class hierarchies, old money to new money) 5.Science and disenchantment.(knowledge approached in a different way-"intellectualist rationalization" no longer any mystery in the world")

Briefly name the three important relations to the subjective interpretation of action.

1. Necessary to employ similar collective concepts 1. using the same terms to obtain an intelligible terminology. 2. concepts of collective entities have meaning in the minds of individuals and they orient their actions to them. 3. only using subjective interpretive understanding of action (verstehen) can one determine individuals motivation ( how they act in a community and how communities came into and remain in existence) members)

Name four things that science as a vocation can provide.

1. Science contribute the technology of controlling life by calculating external objects and man's activities 2.science contributes the methods of thinking (tools and training for thought) 3. science provides clarity (teaches skill of evaluation based on experience) 4. science provides limits ( thru truly ultimate problems)

Name three types of authority according to Weber.

1. Traditional (priest, Lords, Messiah) 2. Charismatic (profits, saints) 3. Legal-rational (bureaucracy)

Name four technical advantages of a bureaucratic organization.

1. hierarchical authority (clear chain of command) 2. personal selected competitive and selected on merit 3. specialized division of labour .(= increased efficiency , speed,"McDonaldization") 4. impersonal and formal rules (no emotions) 5. impersonal enforcement of rules 6. separation of person and office

True or false: A motive is a loose combination of impulse and emotion.

False. A motive is a complex of subjective meanings that the actors use to justify their conduct.

True or false: Bureaucracy is a set of abstract rules that highly personal and loosely enforced.

False. Bureaucracy is VERY IMPERSONAL where they have formal rules that are strictly enforced. Bureaucracy is the main empirical form of legal-rational authority.

True or false: Capitalism still relies on religion to keep society happy so they will continue to work.

False. Capitalism now rests on mechanical foundations and no longer needs religious influences to spur on its workers.

True or false: Charismatic authority rests on the appeal of customs and traditions.

False. Charismatic authority rests on the personal magnetism of a heroic figure.

True or false: Facts are subjective and based on social morality.

False. Facts are objective, empirically supported and value-neutral. ( "What is")

True or false: Legal-rational authority provides patterns of equality for all.

False. Legal rational authority establishes patterns of inequality where power is exerted over a subordinate and they comply willingly)

True or false: Science is free from re-suppositions.

False. No science is free from them.

True or false: The more personable and friendly an bureaucracy is the more profitable it will be.

False. The key technical advantage of bureaucracy is that it is impersonal. By removing the "human emotion factor" it can forecast predictable outcomes for its production.

True or false: The line between meaningful action and reactive behavior can be sharply determined empirically.

False. There is usually a mixture of both and an ability to perform an action is not necessarily required to understand it. (one need not be Caesar to understand Caesar")

True or false: According to Weber authority should not be considered an ideal type.

False. Weber considered all forms of authority to be forms of "ideal types"

True or false: For Weber it was important to figure out why society acted the way that it did and how this influenced an individual.

False. Weber was only concerned with the individual; Durkheim studied society and social groups as a whole.

True or false: When choosing a scientific topic to study one uses value-neutral criteria and then once a topic is chosen they employ value-laden criteria in which to study it.

False. When selecting a topic one uses value-laden criteria-their own values, what interests them-then once they have chosen they must suspend their own values and use value-neutral to objectively study it.

True or false: Weber is similar to Durkheim in that they both believe that science is the basis of morality.

False. Weber believed that science WAS NOT the basis of morality where as Durkheim believed IT WAS.

True or false: Value-rational action is purely objective and a means to an end. (A to B)

False: Value rational action is substantive and not a simple means end calculation; the means have value in their own right. ( "what is the BEST way from A to B)

Explain why ideal types were an important methodological/analytical tool to Weber.

Ideal types are an important methodological tool because it was a construct that allows for a comparison of concrete things to determine similarities and differences. "apples and oranges" (thus Weber's work is described as "systematic comparative sociology")

Define intellectual sacrifice:

Intellectual sacrifice is here a person knows that their belief cannot be empirically supported/proven but they choose to believe anyway.

Explain why the advance of capitalism was an unintended consequence of the Protestant Ethic.

It was an unintended consequence because the protestants did not set out to advance capitalism; they only meant to serve God through everyday endeavours to ensure their salvation.

Name four aspects of legal-rational authority that demonstrate its importance.

Legal-rational authority is: 1. based on established laws 2.administered by a formal organization 3. is impersonal and objective 4. there is voluntary compliance by subordinate 5. obedience is to the office and not the person 6. administrators of authority also answer to same laws

Define power.

Power is the ability to carry out your will even in the face of resistance.

Define rational-legal authority.

Rational- legal authority is an authority that rests on the appeal to the propriety of formally enacted rules and statutes.

Briefly explain what Weber meant by "specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart" meant.

This refers to the fact that religion no longer has any role in modern capitalism and as such the pursuit of wealth has no ethical meaning and is now only mundane means to an end.

True or false. Your mommy is one of the best mommies there is and she loves you to the moon and back.

True, so very true:)

True or False: Instrumental rational action and value rational action are both "ideal types" in Weber's methodology.

True.

True or false. In sociology all interpretation's of meaning strives for clarity and verifiable insight and comprehension.

True.

True or false. Rationalization is a historical process that is systematic and calculable.

True.

True or false: According to Weber, theology represents intellectual rationalization of the possession of sacred values and uses pre-suppositions to justify its existence.

True.

True or false: Ideal types are a bit arbitrary in regards to which attributes are accentuated and those which are not.

True.

True or false: In Weber's "Science as a vocation" he states that young people today are not interested in science for the sake of science, they are searching for something emotionally and spiritually deeper that science cannot provide.

True.

True or false: Processes and uniformities are not considered understandable sociological phenomena and are treated with other methods becoming conditions or stimuli for action.

True.

True or false: Statistical uniformities make up understandable types of actions. They can be used to form generalizations only when regarded as the subjective meaning of social action.

True.

True or false: The motivating factors behind an individual's actions are usually a combination of more than one type of rational action.

True. (for instance Mr. Spock- he was 1/2 human, 1/2 vulvan: therefore he was 1/2 illogical/irrational and 1/2 logical/rational_

True or false: There are two kinds of meaning in sociology; the actual meaning and a theoretical meaning.

True. Actual meanings in concrete cases; and theoretical meaning conceived in a 'pure' type.

True or false: Elective affinities are correlated but not necessarily determinate.

True. The protestant ethic between it and certain economic aspects (capitalism). is an example where there is an affinity

True or false. Weber's theories are considered to be a form of systematic comparative sociology.

True. Weber uses things such as "ideal types" to look for comparisons BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS; often employing verstehen to do so.

True or false: Instrumental actions are formal, technical and calculative.

True. plain and simple, A to B, a means to an end.

Define the concept of Verstehen.

Verstehen is a concept of interpretive understanding; where one views things through the eyes of the actor by reconstructing their choices in order to understand their motives for their actions.

Briefly explain why, according to Weber verstehen is important in sociological inquiry.

Verstehen is important because action is only understood when put into a wider context. Verstehen and other methods of investigation ( empirical observation) must be combined in order to get a complete understanding of an individuals motivations.

Explain why Weber was cautious of causality.

Weber was cautious of causality due to its complex nature; and that many factors needed to be considered in relation to the motivations of social action.

What was Weber's main argument in the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?

Weber's main argument was that there is a link between protestant beliefs and the spirit of capitalism. By the protestants working hard at all of their endeavors to the glory of God they inadvertently advance capitalism by re-investing their profits into their businesses rather than spending them on worldly goods.

A calling is : a) a telemarketing scheme b) a protestant ethic that calls all believers to live and work to the glory of God c) something your mother does when supper is ready d) none of the above

b) A calling is a unique attribute of protestant religions.

When Weber refers to an "iron cage" he is referring to: a) a medieval form of torture b) a type of housing for certain animals c) the division of labour in the modern industrial age d) how the man in the modern world is tied to the attainment of material goods

d) Weber uses this term to describe how for the protestants they wanted to work, it was their "calling" , their way to salvation; where as modern man is removed from religion and we "need" to work to fulfill our endless "need" for material goods.