German sociology is rooted in the
philosopher G.F.W. Hegel's (1770-1831) idea of the dialectic. Like Comte
in France
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Karl Marx (1818-1883) followed Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) in
criticizing Hegel for favoring abstract ideas over real people. Marx adopted a
materialist orientation that focused on real material entities like wealth and
the state. He argued that the problems of modern society could be traced to
real material sources like the structures of capitalism. Yet he maintained
Hegel's emphasis on the dialectic, forging a position called dialectical materialism that held that material processes, relationships, conflicts, and
contradictions are responsible for social problems and social change. (See also: The sociology of Karl Marx)
Marx's materialism led him to posit a labor
theory of value, in which he argued that the capitalist's profits were based on
the exploitation of the laborer. Under the influence of British political
economists, Marx grew to deplore the exploitation of workers and the horrors of
the capitalist system. Unlike the political economists, his view was that such
problems were the products of an endemic conflict that could be addressed only
through radical change. While Marx did not consider himself to be a
sociologist, his influence has been strong in Europe .
Until recently, American sociologists dismissed Marx as an ideologist.
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The theories of Max Weber (1864-1920) can
be seen as the fruit of a long debate with the ghost of Marx. While Weber was
not familiar with Marx's writings, he viewed the Marxists of his day as economic
determinists who offered single-cause theories of social life. Rather than
seeing ideas as simple reflections of economic factors, Weber saw them as
autonomous forces capable of profoundly affecting the economic world. Weber can
also be understood as trying to round out Marx's theoretical perspective;
rather than denying the effect of material structures, he was simply pointing
out the importance of ideas as well.
Whereas Marx offered a theory of
capitalism, Weber's work was fundamentally a theory of the process of
rationalization. Rationalization is the process whereby universally applied
rules, regulations, and laws come to dominate more and more sectors of society
on the model of a bureaucracy. Weber argued that in the Western world
rational-legal systems of authority squeezed out traditional authority systems,
rooted in beliefs, and charismatic authority, systems based on the
extraordinary qualities of a leader. His historical studies of religion are
dedicated to showing why rational-legal forms took hold in the West but not
elsewhere. Weber's reformist views and academic style were better received than
Marx's radicalism in sociology. Sociologists also appreciated Weber's
well-rounded approach to the social world.
More on Weber
Georg Simmel (1858-1918) was Weber's contemporary and co-founder of the German
Sociological Society. While Marx and Weber were pre-occupied with large-scale
issues, Simmel was best known for his work on smaller-scale issues, especially
individual action and interaction. He became famous for his thinking on forms
of interaction (i.e., conflict) and types of interacts (i.e., the stranger).
Simmel saw that understanding interaction among people was one of the major
tasks of sociology. His short essays on interesting topics made his work accessible
to American sociologists. His most famous long work, The Philosophy of Money,
was concerned with the emergence of a money economy in the modern world. This
work observed that large-scale social structures like the money economy can
become separate from individuals and come to dominate them.
Further reading on Simmel:
