Weber, Art, and Social Theory

Max Weber’s contribution to cultural sociology has received insufficient attention, due to the unfinished character of his work and its reception. This paper investigates aspects of his contribution in relation to the field of art, broadly conceived, and in terms of the uses of his ideas by historians of art and design, such as T. J. Clark. Weber’s social theory considers art from two perspectives: the relative autonomy of cultural and artistic forms and modes of expression, and the social construction of works of art and culture. From the latter point of view technics and the technical become important factors in a double sense: The technologies of modern civilization external to art shape the “spirit” of art and its contents, and development in art proceeds as an effort to solve technical problems internal to the art form itself. Examples from painting, architecture and music illustrate the relationships. It is these perspectives that characterize the Weberian approach to art and invite further investigation as contributions to cultural sociology and social theory

The Mind of the Modernist

Georg Simmel is known for his ‘formal’ sociology and discussion of interaction using spatial imagery. Responding to the standard view of Simmel, this article investigates his equally important ideas about time and temporality. In his philosophical and sociological writings Simmel explores the nature of knowledge of the past, mechanistic and organic conceptions of temporality, and the experience and social construction of time-consciousness. The modern money economy encourages a dynamic acceleration and compression of time, while cultural modernity ushers in an ‘eternal present’. Simmel's interpretation of time and temporality are central to his thought and contribute to his significance as a social theorist

Max Weber in the United States

In his contribution L. Scaff outlines the reception history of Max Weber’s work from its beginnings down to the present. It highlights the importance of the first translations, including those by prominent American authors and particularly those who had studied in Germany; and then in the post-war years the role of emigrants familiar with Weber’s work. The establishment of Weber texts as compulsory reading in the curricula of American colleges also played a significant role. The striking readiness, even ease, with which Weber was received in America is something Scaff deduces from three “narratives that captured the imagination of the American audience”. The first is the narrative of voluntarism, i.e. “the way in which Weber developed his conception of the sect and its effects on the individual and society”. Next is the narrative of achievement, in the sense of “mastery of the world”, preceded by “mastery of the self”, which “when put into practice entailed the conquest of the New World’s primordial wilderness”. Finally there is the narrative of redemption as “the most potent founding myth of the American experience”: “The quest for salvation that began as a religiously inspired message became transformed into a secularized cultural theme: the search for the possibility of breaking free from constraints in order to create a better life, to renew the self, to gain a second chance by atoning for moral failures, and to find reconciliation with God, humankind, and the world.

Elective affinities of the Protestant ethic : Weber and the chemistry of capitalism

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