Basic Concepts of Sociology -- Miniature Classics

Author: Max Weber (Germany), translated by Hu Jingbei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: This book is the foundation for understanding Weber's major work "Economy and Society" and even the entirety of his thought. In a certain sense, it is also the foundation for understanding modern sociology and the entire social sciences. The basic content of this book first appeared in Weber's 1913 paper "On Some Categories of Understanding Sociology." After World War II, Weber rewrote the paper to provide introductory conceptual definitions for his planned work on social economics, transforming it into an independent part with the title "Basic Concepts of Sociology." The concepts in this book serve as a guide to Weber's thought. "Society" refers to a science that attempts to descriptively understand social behavior and, thereby, make causal explanations of the processes and functions of this behavior. "Behavior" here means human action, as long as this action carries the subjective intention of the actor. "Social behavior" refers to a type of action that is related to the behavior of others according to the actor's intention and, in the process, targets the behavior of others.