Rethinking Max Weber. Premodern Interpretations of Weber in Critical Focus

Abstract

This study examines criticisms of Max Weber by Leo Strauss and Mihály Polányi. When we claim that we act on the basis of moral considerations, the same is true for the case when we judge others on a moral basis, and in these cases, we also refer to generally recognised moral standards that we consider to be valid. Are these premodern interpretations of Weber critiques or indictments? Namely: the criticism of objectivity, criticism of historicism and criticism of positivism. Analysing Max Weber, we cannot go beyond Rudolph Sohm’s concept of charisma and Weber’s charisma. Weber was greatly influenced by Sohm, from whom the concept of charisma comes. Indeed, Weber perfected Sohm’s concept of charisma, but also adapted it to his own. Neither Polányi nor Strauss find the theory developed by Weber to be completely consistent. The Weberian system of ideas requires renewal, the steps of which are embodied in the criticism of the two authors Mihály Polányi and Leo Strauss. In this study, I undertake to give the body an understanding soul in which both criticism and the Weberian system of ideas meet.