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In the last decade an increasing amount of Anglo-American scholarship has been devoted to the centrality of politics within Max Weber's work. There has been a radical shift away from the Parsonian view that Weber was a mainstream sociologist. While broadly sympathetic to these approaches, Charles Turner argues that none of them have dealt adequately with Weber's concept of the political. In particular, they seemed to believe that, in order to demonstrate the importance of Weber's politics, it was necessary to read him as neo-Aristotelian, and play down the role of neo-Kantian value philosophy. Turner argues that, while Weber's work certainly bears comparison with themes peculiar to the neo-Aristotelian critique of modernity, an appreciation of the analytical centrality of politics is quite consistent with his appeal to the neo-Kantian philosophy of his own day. The key to this, believes Turner, is an understanding of what Weber means by the tragedy of culture'. One of the most distinctive features of the book is that it encourages Weber specialists to situate themselves in a wider range of debates about modernity'.
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Modernity and politics in the work of Max Weber ‘This is an exciting book with a strong thesis about the way in which Max Weber conceived the modern personality and its relation to politics. Turner provides us with an analysis of Weber that is both scholarly and original.’ J.R.R.Thomas, Head of the School of Sociology, University of the We England at Br
In the last decade an increasing amount of Anglo-American scholarship has been devoted to the importance of politics within Max Weber’s work. While broadly sympathetic to this approach, the author argues that none of its representatives have dealt adequately with Weber’s concept of the political. In particular, some have attempted to demonstrate the centrality of politics by reading Weber as a neo-Aristotelian, and playing down the role of neo-Kantian value philosophy. This book argues that while Weber’s work should indeed be seen in the light of the neo-Aristotelian critique of modernity, the analytical and ethical centrality of politics is quite consistent with the manner in which he drew upon the neo-Kantian philosophy of his contemporaries. The key to this, believes Turner, is an understanding of what Weber means by ‘personality’ and by the tragedy of culture. One of the most distinctive features of the book is that it encourages Weber specialists to situate their work within a wider range of debates about modernity and post-modernity, and suggests that contributors to those debates reconsider Weber’s significance for them. Charles Turner studied at the Universities of Durham and London. He teaches in the faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
Modernity and politics in the work of Max Weber Charles Turner
London and New York
First published 1992 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1992 Charles Turner All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Con