Worldly Practice: Max Weber's Rationalization of the Modern World

Author: (German) Weber Wang Rongfen Chen Weigang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: Max Weber is a renowned German sociologist, a towering figure and one of the founders of sociology. Against the backdrop of China's reform and opening-up in the 1980s, his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism caused a great sensation. In the following two decades, Weber's reputation grew both domestically and internationally. The concepts he proposed—such as the Protestant ethic, bureaucracy, the disenchantment of the world, and value neutrality—have profoundly influenced the life paths of the younger generation. This book includes two of Weber's famous speeches on the calling of scholarship and the calling of politics, as well as his discussions on the capitalist spirit. In these two speeches, Weber, as a serious scholar and statesman, scientifically and meticulously elaborates on the moral qualities a righteous scholar must possess and the professional ethics an honest, passionate statesman must uphold. The entire book is filled with rationalist teachings, fully demonstrating Weber's worldly attitude and rigorous, pragmatic academic style. These writings are now listed as essential reading for Western university students and have once influenced a large number of European scholars and statesmen. The two speeches are translated by Wang Rongfen, and the section on the capitalist spirit is translated by Chen Weigang and others. Wang Rongfen is a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, currently residing in Germany. Chen Weigang is a researcher at Harvard Divinity School. The translations of both translators are accurate, meticulous, and fluent, having played an extremely important role in promoting and popularizing Western academia in China. Max Weber is a renowned German sociologist, a towering figure and one of the founders of sociology. Against the backdrop of China's reform and opening-up in the 1980s, his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism caused a great sensation. In the following two decades, Weber's reputation grew both domestically and internationally. The concepts he proposed—such as the Protestant ethic, bureaucracy, the disenchantment of the world, and value neutrality—have profoundly influenced the life paths of the younger generation. This book includes two of Weber's famous speeches on the calling of scholarship and the calling of politics, as well as his discussions on the capitalist spirit. In these two speeches, Weber, as a serious scholar and statesman, scientifically and meticulously elaborates on the moral qualities a righteous scholar must possess and the professional ethics an honest, passionate statesman must uphold. The entire book is filled with rationalist teachings, fully demonstrating Weber's worldly attitude and rigorous, pragmatic academic style. These writings are now listed as essential reading for Western university students and have once influenced a large number of European scholars and statesmen. The two speeches are translated by Wang Rongfen, and the section on the capitalist spirit is translated by Chen Weigang and others. Wang Rongfen is a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, currently residing in Germany. Chen Weigang is a researcher at Harvard Divinity School. The translations of both translators are accurate, meticulous, and fluent, having played an extremely important role in promoting and popularizing Western academia in China.