On Max Weber

In: International journal of politics, culture and society, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 127-134

Abstract

A review essay on a book by: Wilhelm Hennis, Il Problema Max Weber ([The Problematics of Max Weber] Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1991, translated from Max Webers Fragestellung Studien zur Biographie des Werks [Max Weber's Problematics: A Study on the Biography of His Works] Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1987 [see listing in IRPS No. 62]). Hennis's main argument is that, despite the proliferation of secondary studies, Weber's basic intentions have yet to be revealed. Further, Weber's central concern lies in the development of humanity, rather in exposing rationality as the master trend of history. The book is praised for considering all stages of Weber's intellectual development, from his early agrarian studies to his analysis of the capitalist spirit to his philosophical indebtedness to Friedrich Nietzsche. Exhaustively documented & carefully argued, Hennis's book is best seen as a corrective to the distorted image of Weber drawn by Wolfgang Schluchter & Reinhard Bendix. W. Howard