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Max Weber 's Sociology And Sociology Essay

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1. Introduction

Max Weber was a German sociologist, economist and a political leader who influenced the field of economics and sociology with his research and theories. He is considered as one of the founders of sociology along with Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim. He was also the founder of German Democratic Party. His works continue to inspire many economists and sociologists until this day.
“The prestige of Max Weber among European social scientists would be difficult to over-estimate. He is widely considered the greatest of German sociologists and ... has become a leading influence in European and American thought.” (Mills, 1946)
2. Weber’s Sociology

Weber defined sociology as "that science which aims at the interpretive understanding of social behaviour in order to gain an explanation of its causes, its courses, and its effects.” (Denhardt, 2004)
In his sociology, Weber attempted to combine an interest driven analysis with the one that take social behaviour into account. According to him, economic theory analysed the situation in which a person is driven mainly by material interests and utility but did not take the behaviour of others into account. Sociology looked at action that is driven by ideal as well as material interests that is also oriented to the behaviour of others. There are four kinds of social actions according to Weber’s theory of sociology:
1. Zweck rational action
2. Wert rational action
3. Affectual action
4. Traditional action (Thakur, 2007)
Zweck

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