Religion as the Source of the Self. Max Weber’s Hypothesis

Amidst the recent resurgence of interest in religion as one of the main ‘sources of the self’, Max Weber’s argument in the Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie can make an important contribution. The importance of individuation1 to the rise of capitalism in Weber’s account has usually been related to the process of autonomisation of the individual from the ‘community of blood’ that took place in the Jewish-Christian tradition in the West. The author argues that Weber in fact proposed a much more sophisticated reconstruction of the processes of individuation than is commonly supposed. By means of a comparative reconstruction of the relation between religion, individual and society in several cultural contexts, Weber proposed a complex analysis of different processes of individuation, in which the notion of ‘personality’ plays a crucial role

One, two or three cultures? Humanities versus natural and social sciences in modern Germany

The central aim of this article is to clarify some central theoretical issues concerning the relationship between academic disciplines and society in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Germany. At first glance, the history of science confirms the view commonly held today, of natural sciences and technology eroding the position of forms of knowledge related to the study of cultural phenomena. By linking the crisis of the humanities to the progress of the natural sciences, however, there is a danger of misrepresenting both of them as monolithic epistemic cultures. In reality, the German term Geisteswissenschaften acquired its meaning in sharp competition with other categories. In this context, the Geisteswissenschaften were perceived as “useless” not only by contrast with the impressive technological applications of the “natural sciences”, but also with the bid for political relevance made by the “social sciences”. The “crisis of the humanities” can, therefore, not be overcome without reflecting on science as a whole and conceptualizing the function of the humanities in positive terms