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The Vocation of Reason
Studies in Critical Theory and Social Science in the Age of Max Weber
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This book addresses, and at the same time reflects, the impact of Max Weber on both the social sciences and on critical theoryâs critique of the social sciences. Weberâs conception of âvocationâ is a guiding thread unifying concerns about the nature, scope and limits of theoretical thinking among social scientists, whether supportive or critical of Weber. Not surprisingly, the source of many of these concerns, whether intended or unintended, biographical or situational, is the ambiguous legacy of Weber himself. Wilsonâs interrogation of Weberâs thought in articles and essays over the past 30 years, supplemented by Kempleâs insights, makes a strong case for the claim that we do indeed live in âthe age of Weberâ.
H.T. Wilson, Ph.D. (1968) is a Professor at York University, Toronto. His most recent works include No Ivory Tower (Voyageur,1999), Bureaucratic Representation (Brill, 2001) and Capitalism after Postmodernism (Brill, 2002). His present work addresses the impact of spatial and temporal values on social, political and economic institutions and practices.
Thomas M. Kemple, Ph.D. (1992) in Social and Political Thought, York University, Toronto. He has published on classical sociology and contemporary cultural theory, including Reading Marx Writing: Melodrama, the Market, and the 'Grundrisse' (Stanford University Press, 1995).
Thomas M. Kemple, Ph.D. (1992) in Social and Political Thought, York University, Toronto. He has published on classical sociology and contemporary cultural theory, including Reading Marx Writing: Melodrama, the Market, and the 'Grundrisse' (Stanford University Press, 1995).
Acknowledgements
List of Tables and Figures
Editorâs Foreword â The age of Weber, by THomas M. Kemple
Authorâs Introduction â The Ambivalence of Reason: Max Weberâs Analysis of Western Modernity
PART ONE. THE LIMITS OF âRATIONALITYâ: FROM TRADITIONAL TO CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORY
Editorâs note on Part I
I. Reading Max Weber: Critical Theory and the Limits of Sociology
II. Critical Theory in America, 1938-1978: A Case of Intellectual Innovation and its Reception
III. Critical Theory and Social Science: Episodes in a Changing Problematic from Adorno to Habermas
IV. Functional Rationality and âSense of Functionâ: Critical Comments on an Ideological Distortion
V. Use Value and Substantive Rationality: Marx and Weber on Dichotomization in Modern Social Theory
PART TWO. RECONSTRUCTING SOCIAL SCIENCE: FROM SOCIAL THEORIZING TO REFLEXIVE PRAXIS
Editorâs note on Part II
VI. Technocracy as Late Capitalist Ideology: Between Spectre and Myth
VII. Communication, Deprivation and Mobilization: Notes on the Achievement of Communicative Action and Related Difficulties
VIII. Science, Technology, and Innovation: Reflections on Capital and Common Sense
IX. Essential Process of Modernity: A Critical Analysis of Social Science Research Practices and an Alternative
X. Time, Space and Value: Recovering the Public Sphere
Index
List of Tables and Figures
Editorâs Foreword â The age of Weber, by THomas M. Kemple
Authorâs Introduction â The Ambivalence of Reason: Max Weberâs Analysis of Western Modernity
PART ONE. THE LIMITS OF âRATIONALITYâ: FROM TRADITIONAL TO CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORY
Editorâs note on Part I
I. Reading Max Weber: Critical Theory and the Limits of Sociology
II. Critical Theory in America, 1938-1978: A Case of Intellectual Innovation and its Reception
III. Critical Theory and Social Science: Episodes in a Changing Problematic from Adorno to Habermas
IV. Functional Rationality and âSense of Functionâ: Critical Comments on an Ideological Distortion
V. Use Value and Substantive Rationality: Marx and Weber on Dichotomization in Modern Social Theory
PART TWO. RECONSTRUCTING SOCIAL SCIENCE: FROM SOCIAL THEORIZING TO REFLEXIVE PRAXIS
Editorâs note on Part II
VI. Technocracy as Late Capitalist Ideology: Between Spectre and Myth
VII. Communication, Deprivation and Mobilization: Notes on the Achievement of Communicative Action and Related Difficulties
VIII. Science, Technology, and Innovation: Reflections on Capital and Common Sense
IX. Essential Process of Modernity: A Critical Analysis of Social Science Research Practices and an Alternative
X. Time, Space and Value: Recovering the Public Sphere
Index
For readers interested in the legacy of Max Weber and other classical sociologists, the Frankfurt School of critical social theory, the history and importance of the social sciences in the 20th century.