Weber's Works (1): Academic and Political

Author: Max Weber [Germany]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: This book includes Weber's two famous lectures: "Academia as a Vocation" and "Politics as a Vocation." These lectures were delivered shortly before Weber's death in Munich, a major center of Germany's "new" culture under the shadow of war and revolution. They are among the most important documents of 20th-century thought. Weber synthesizes his lifelong academic, intellectual, moral, and political concerns, offering a comparative analysis from historical and sociological perspectives, as well as critical reflection on moral value levels. Through these lectures, he provides a stern definition and a generous call regarding the nature, conditions, and limitations of academic knowledge and political action. They make readers profoundly aware of the difficulties of modern humanity's situation and compel them to adopt an "heroic ethic" attitude, seizing a sliver of hope for human dignity in the "ordinary work at hand."