A Passion for Life: Max Weber about Politics, Religion, Science and Values 3502-FAKL27-LIC-OG

Max Weber (1864-1920) is the founding father, alongside Emile Durkheim, of contemporary sociology. A charismatic scholar, deeply involved in the social and political affairs of his country. A complex personality, much demanding from himself, there was something tragic about him. Weber was characterized by a passion for life and for thinking, by honesty with oneself bordering on cruelty. This feature of his personality is well reflected in the letter to Ferdinand Tönnies in 1909: "I am absolutely religiously "unmusical "and I have neither the need nor the ability to create some kind of spiritual “creations "of a religious character – it’s absolutely out of the question, in other words, I reject it. But I am not, after careful examination, neither anti-religious nor irreligious. I feel, also in this respect, like a cripple, like a castrated man, whose inner fate is to admit it honestly to myself.” Leo Strauss expressed the final ethical attitude of Weber in the formula “you shalt live passionately” and “you shalt choose the final foundation of your life”. Weber perceived life as passionate devotion to the cause, both in politics and science. He wrote: "Only an act that can be done with passion is worth anything to a human being." The seminar will draw attention to the relationship between Weber's attitude to life and his scientific achievements. It includes three thematic blocks.
1) Weber's view of politics, its possible ethical dimensions and the conditions that must be met by someone of whom it can be said that he has a vocation for politics.
2) Weber's contribution to the sociology of religion which will be analyzed in three aspects: a) the process of the intellectual rationalization, to which we have been subjected to for millennia, and whose driving force in modernity is science and technology, b) the influence of religious ideas on the development of economic ethics and their impact on economic systems, c) the tensions and conflict between religion and the world, in particular the sphere of economics, politics, aesthetics, the erotic and science. Weber referred to these tensions as "the directions of religious rejection of the world."
3) The meaning of science and its inner limitations in the context of the life-world and action, a) why science cannot justify itself ?, b) the objectivity of sociological knowledge, c) the sense of the Weberian postulates of "freedom from valuation" and "reference to values". The basis for the course are the original works of Weber in polish translation.

Type of course

general courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

The seminar is for students, who are interested in Max Webers’ acdemic personality and scientific achievements in selected areas: politics, religion, the idea of science and the function of values in science and human action.

Learning outcomes

K_W01 Knows and understands basic concepts of various sub-domains of sociology (e.g. sociology of family, health, work, religion, economy, education, etc.)
K_W02 Has in-depth knowledge about the place of sociology in the system of sciences, including its possible applications in other academic disciplines
K_W03 Is aware of ongoing theoretical and methodological disputes conducted in modern sociology; is reflective and critical of various positions
K_W08 Has in-depth knowledge about the types of social ties and mechanisms supporting collective governance
K_W10 Has in-depth knowledge about cultural diversity and its transformations, cultural identity, and intercultural interaction and communication
K_W26 Has in-depth knowledge of assumptions and claims of selected historical and contemporary sociological theories
K_W27 Has in-depth knowledge of the 19th, 20th and 21st ideas and social processes which have shaped the face of the modern world
K_U20 Can discover and analyze complex dependencies between development of philosophical ideas and social, and cultural, procesess
K_K13 Is open to various theoretical and methodological perspectives of social research.

Assessment criteria

Discussion, oral presentation, an essay.

Bibliography

1. M. Weber, Polityka jako zawód i powołanie, w: Max Weber, Polityka jako zawód i powołanie, Warszawa-Kraków: SIW Znak, Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego, s. 55-110.
2. M. Weber, Słowo wstępne, w: M. Weber, Etyka protestancka i duch kapitalizmu, Warszawa: Wydawnictwa UW 2011, s. 49-66.
3. M. Weber, Etyka gospodarcza religii światowych, w: Max Weber. Szkie z socjologii religii, Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza 1984, s. 111-152.
4. M. Weber, Dygresja: Teoria stopni i kierunków religijnego odrzucenia świata, w: M. Weber, Socjologia religii. Dzieła zebrane. Etyka gospodarcza religii światowych, Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS 2006, s. 199-224.
5. M. Weber, Etyka zawodowa ascetycznego protestantyzmu, w: Etyka protestancka a duch kapitalizmu, Warszawa: Wydawnictwa UW 2011, s. 114-186, 218-290 (przypisy)
6. M. Weber, Nauka jako zawód i powołanie, w: Max Weber, Polityka jako zawód i powołanie, Warszawa-Kraków: SIW Znak, Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego, s. 111-140.
7. M. Weber, „Obiektywność” poznania społeczno-naukowego i społeczno-politycznego, w: Max Weber, Racjonalność, władza, odczarowanie, Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie 2011, s. 131-192.
8. M. Weber, „Wolność od wartościowania” – jej sens w naukach socjologicznych i ekonomicznych, w: Max Weber, Racjonalność, władza, odczarowanie, Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie 2011, s. 193-240.
9. L. Strauss, Prawo naturalne a różnica między faktami i wartościami, w: tenże, Prawo naturalne w świetle historii, Warszawa 1969. [Natural Right and History, s. 35-80].
10. M. Kaczmarczyk, Weberowska zasada wolności od sądów wartościujących. Interpretacja, w: „Stan Rzeczy” 2014 nr 6, s. 24-86.
Literatura uzupełniająca:
Z. Krasnodębski, M. Weber, Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna 1999.
J. Radkau, Max Weber, Die Leidenschaft des Denkens, dtv 2013 [2005].
J. Kaube, Max Weber. Ein Leben zwischen den Epochen, Berlin: Rohwolt 2014.
D. Kaesler, Max Weber. Eine Biographie, München: Verlag C.H.Beck 2014.

Additional information

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