Max Weber : the theory of social and economic organization

Edited with an Introduction by Talcott ParsonsA Simon & Schuster eBook This book is an introduction to Max Weber's ambitious comparative study of the sociological and institutional foundations of the modern economic and social order.In this work originally published in German in 1920, Weber discusses the analytical methods of sociology and, at the same time, presents a devastating critique of prevailing sociological theory and of its universalist, determinist underpinnings. None of Weber's other writings offers the reader such a grasp of his theories; none displays so clearly his erudition, the scope of his interests, and his analytical powers. THOUGH an increasing number of scholars in the English-speaking world have in recent years come to know Max Weber's work in the original German editions, the part of it which has heretofore been available in English translation has formed a wholly inadequate basis on which to understand the general character of his contributions to social science.