Sam Whimster on Max Weber and the Culture of Anarchy, 25 years later

Max Weber and the Culture of Anarchy is a book that came out of the circumstances of the 1990s. Under Gorbachev, Russia pursued glasnost and released Eastern bloc countries from Soviet hegemony. In 1990 the German Democratic Republic and the Federal German Republic were re-united (Wiedervereinigung). A call went out to academics internationally to come and teach in the universities, East of the Elbe. Over the summer of 1992, I gave a course on modern and postmodern social theory in the Institute of Marxism-Leninism at Leipzig University, my underlying idea being to convey to students the weirdness of the culture of western capitalism.

Massimo Palma

Massimo Palma Italy – Università Suor Orsola Benincasa Research area: Political Philosophy, Philosophy of History and Literature. ‘I am very interested in Weber as a thinker of the political issues of domination, legitimacy, but also democracy, and the ruling class in the «elitist» sense. I also consider his ‘ideal type’ as a true tool to … Leer más

Matthias Lüdeking

Matthias Lüdeking Germany – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Research area: Corporate and Commercial Law, Ethics ‘I am interested in all of Weber’s work. My approach to interpreting him is strongly influenced by the work of Wilhelm Hennis. We should do research on Weber because the study of his work offers an ongoing and inexhaustible intellectual adventure.’ Find … Leer más

Comments on Edith Hanke’s Four Theses: On the meaning of the concept of democracy in the late Max Weber)

The decisive question in our discussion can be formulated in a concise manner: Was Max Weber a Democrat? As the historical-systematic approach proposed by Edith indicates, it would be more appropriate to ask how he became a democrat and what form of democracy he favored. It is clear, on the other hand, that the question cannot be answered once and for all. We need to take many nuances into account, but it is precisely for this reason – I believe – that our discussion becomes interesting.

WSN 2023/2024 EVENT SERIES: #3 Session

Join us on January 18th  for a conversation with Stephen Turner and Carmen Chas on “Democracy and the Rule of Law”. To set our minds in motion, Turner will give a presentation arguing that both Weber and Kelsen avoided the term Rule of Law [Rechtsstaat] while painstakingly constructing alternative descriptions of the kind of legal order that these terms have been used to denote. Their redescriptions are intentionally subversive: they sought a demystified and de-ideologized language which respected the fact-value distinction, and the distinction between sociology and jurisprudence. They show that there is nothing more to the “rule of law,” either in the realm of fact or the realm of legally meaningful norms, than conformity to the law itself.

Weber, Kelsen, and the Rule of Law: Liberal Ideologiekritik?

Weber and Kelsen avoided the terms Rechtsstaat and Rule of Law, but they each painstakingly constructed alternative descriptions of the kind of legal order that these terms have been used to describe. Their motives were similar: they sought a demystified and de-ideologized language which respected the fact-value distinction, and the distinction between sociology and jurisprudence. Weber’s category of rational-legal authority was defined by the belief in an impersonal legal order to which officials submit; this was also Kelsen’s concept of the Grundnorm. Parallel to Weber, Kelsen used a strategy of de-ideologization to critique elements of the idea of “the rule of law,” such as the separation of powers. Their redescriptions are intentionally subversive. They show that there is nothing more to the “rule of law,” either in the realm of fact or the realm of legally meaningful norms, than conformity to the law itself.

WSN 2023/2024 EVENT SERIES: #2 Session

Value Polytheism and Democracy in Max Weber’s Political Thought Max Weber’s emphasis on the impossibility of a scientific foundation for value systems has been accused of being relativistic. What is the point of a social science that a priori refuses to discover and establish a common good? What are we supposed to do if social theory does … Leer más