Romance and reason : ontological and social sources of alienation in the writings of Max Weber / Andrew M. Koch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Koch, Andrew M., 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Weber, Max, 1864-1920--Criticism and interpretation.

Weber, Max.

Weber, Max, 1864-1920.

Alienation (Social psychology).

Alienation (Philosophy).

Social epistemology.

Ontology--Social aspects.

Ontology.

Rationalism.

Social aspects.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xi, 244 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2006]

Summary:

In Romance and Reason, Andrew M. Koch notes that in the annals of social research the jury is still out on Max Weber. This is due to the fact that Weber's enormous body of foundational work in sociology is continually undergoing several simultaneous versions of integration into contemporary social research. Whether Weber is a central, secondary, or tertiary consideration in social research, it behooves any social scientist to take a position on the work of Max Weber.

In this erudite new biography, Koch argues that Weber's understanding of the Enlightenment, in all its epistemological and ontological structures, conveys the Enlightenment itself as an alienating worldview. As a result, Koch contends, the full depth of Weber's body of work has yet to be excavated and studied. Romance and Reason is an analysis of the genesis of the concept of alienation and, in an imaginative and necessary turn, Koch works to re-create the context in which Weber understood alienation in both the intellectual and lived sense. This book is a fundamental explication on the contemporary Weber and is a salient addition to sociology, cultural studies, cultural anthropology, and any field that is invested in understanding contemporary culture and society.

Contents:

Introduction

Max Weber and alienation

The historical roots of Weber's view of alienation

Max Weber's methodology : the limits of human knowledge

Max Weber's ontology : the limits of the individual

Rationality and the roots of social alienation

Rationality and capitalism

Bureaucracy and formal rationality

Conclusions regarding Weber, alienation, and human subjectivity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-232) and index.

ISBN:

0739111019

0739113089

OCLC:

60839302