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Rationality, Romanticism and the Individual: Max Weber's “Modernism” and the Confrontation with “Modernity”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Andrew M. Koch
Andrew M. Koch
Affiliation:
Winthrop University
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Abstract

Max Weber's writings convey a tension between a commitment to Enlightenment rationalism and a romanticism that was largely shaped under the influence of the “Sturm und Drang.” The tension is represented in the claims that modernity unleashes forces that erode the spontaneous, creative elements of human life. This study argues that Weber has correctly identified some of the problematic substance of modernism, but that he failed to explore alternative sets of assumptions by which the modernist paradigm could be critiqued. As a result, Weber was forced to see the world as a place full of bifurcated conflicts between such elements as: reason/emotion, modern/traditional, science/mysticism. This epistemological framework led Weber to the pessimistic conclusions about the fate of humanity in the modern world.

Résumé

Les écrits de Max Weber communiquent une tension entre un engagement envers le rationalisme du Siècle des Lumières et un romantisme qui se forma en grande partie sous l'influence de «Sturm und Drang». La tension est représentée dans les revendications que la modernité déchaîne les forces qui érodent les éléments créateurs spontanés de la vie humaine. Cette étude argumente que Weber a identifié quelquesunes des substances problématiques du modernisme, mais qu'il a omis d'explorer des ensembles alternatifs d'hypothèses par lesquels le paradigme du moderniste pourrait être critiqué. Il en résulte que Weber fut obligé de voir le monde comme une place pleine de conflits bifurqués entre des éléments tels que: raison/émotion, modernité/tradition, science/mysticisme. Ce cadre épistémologique a amené Weber aux conclusions pessimistes sur le sort de l'humanité dans le monde moderne.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , March 1993 , pp. 123 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 1993

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