DOCSLIB.ORG

Sociology Classical Sociological Theory Weber's Conception of History: Rationality and Disenchantment Social Sciences, Philos

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sociology Classical Sociological Theory Weber's Conception of History: Rationality and Disenchantment Social Sciences, Philos 1 DECRIPTION OF THE MODULE Items Description of the Module Sociology Subject Name Classical Sociological Theory Paper Name Weber’s Conception of History: Rationality and Module Name/Title Disenchantment Social sciences, philosophy, historicism, and Pre Requisites Weber’s Rationalisation process The main objective of this paper is to explore Max Objectives Weber conception of history, rationality and disenchantment. Not to live the paper hanging a brief assessment will follow. capitalism Socialism, Proleterait, Bourgeoisie, The Key words Indian, Primitive communism, MODULE STRUCTURE Weber’s Conception of History: Rationality and A discourse on Weber’s Conception of History, Disenchantment Disenchantment and Rationality. 2 CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY WEBERS COCEPTION OF HISTORY: RATIONALITY AND DISENCHANTMENT Introduction The entry of human society into modernity inspired many sociologists to comment on it. Some sociologists were in favour of this movement while some others remained suspicious of this event. The entry into modernity also meant new rules of engagement- new modern nation- states, market-capitalism, bureaucracy and rationality. It was in this situation that Weber argued that human kind is headed towards an iron cage. He rightly envisioned that the formal rules and laws together with the formalized principles of bureaucracy would lead to a state when humans and their relationships would be objectified. This disenchantment that Weber espoused bears certain resemblance to Hegel’s phenomenology of the Spirit and to that of Marx’s dialectical materialism. However for Weber, the transformation of European history is best accounted for not in terms of protracted struggle for political freedom and equality or for proletarian revolution and empowerment but as a progressive and degenerative process that dilutes human-ness for a world that is robotic. One thing that stands out very clearly in Weber’s historical process is that he sees history to be ruled by a rational process. The moving force of history is rationality. There is a movement from more primitive ways of understanding the world to more modern’s ways. There is a movement form tradition to rationality, from magic to religion and from religion to science; science which is an end product of the enlightenment movement and the French and Industrial revolutions. As he dives deeper into historical analysis, one thing that stands out clear in Weber’s account of history is the dimension of the play of the formation of idle types. Idle types of Protestantism and capitalism are fluid and interchangeable; they reverse roles, overcome each other at different points in time and reciprocally influence each other.1 There is an element of chance too in Weber’s historical account. The fact that the theological conception of the calling and 1 David Chalcraft et al, Marx Weber Matters: Interweaving past and the Present, (London: Ashgate Publishing ltd), 80. 3 predestination appear at particular moments in history and that a form of economic enterprise focused profit arises as well are not the result of some logic guiding history but rather chance.2 When we relate the works of Weber and Marx, we see that Karl Marx has dealt more with the economic history of human history and for him the relations of production and means and modes and ownership of production were the ways in which history could be comprehended. Some scholars view Weber as being more sophisticated in his understanding of multiple causes of ideology and politics of modernity and capitalism. Just as Marx was able to view human history from a larger frame though some scholars view his perspective as teleological and Eurocentric so was Weber’s comprehension. But Weber is more attuned to the variability and complexity of human cultural and historical patterns.3 Where Marx over systematizes and emphasizes the importance of economic relations, reducing all cultural and historical complexities to a single cause and one multi-linear historical process, Weber with his methodology of “idle types”4 acknowledges complexity and multi-causality. Finally Weber’s historical process is contained in the struggle through which rationality a product of modern society (virtue), transcends irrationality (Vice), freedom over un-freedom.5 After having briefly summed up the trajectory of Max Weber’s conception of history, we shall now address the three periods that are portrayed in the process. This will help us when we shall be discussing disenchantment. Weber also attempted to paint human history through large strokes such as Marx and argued that human history has generally moved through phases- magic, religion and modernity. 1.1.1. The Era of Magic The era of Magic falls within the enchanted age. In the enchanted age of magic, Weber holds that the means of control was conditioned by the belief that the natural environment is governed by spiritual forces residing in and beyond the immanent order of nature itself. This means that in the era of magic the basis of controlling nature is at the bottom, a matter of establishing a means of influence over the super natural forces that inform it. It is good to note before we proceed, that that the era of magic is often termed by Weber as the traditional society. 2 Stuart Macintyre, (2011), The Oxford history of Historical Writings vol.4, (United Kingdom: OUP Oxford) 53. 3 Ellen. M. Woods, (2007), Democracy against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism (Britain: Cambridge University Press), 146. 4 Weber's discussion of social action is an example of the use of an ideal type. An ideal type provides the basic method for historical-comparative study. It is not meant to refer to the best or to some moral ideal, but rather a typical or logically consistent" features of social institutions or behaviours. 5 Jose Lopez, (2003), Society and its Metaphor: Language, Social Theory and Social Structure, (New York: Continuum), 38. 4 Magic then for Weber is the name given to the art that has its purpose, the extension of power over a spiritualized natural realm.6 Moreover one of the distinguishing marks characteristic of magic according to Weber and one which distinguishes it sharply from modern technology is its relative inability to affect real control over natural processes. Magic then for Weber is an important art. Its successes are largely fortuitous and its failure conveniently interpreted by its practioners as signs of impendency success. One of the reasons why the enchanted world of magic yielded less results is the fact that the will to command nature’s obedience is checked by an opposing will, the will of nature or more precisely the will of the spiritual forces that oversee the operation.7 1.1.2. The Era of Religion In the rational historical process of Weber, he sees religion as a force that had changed society and stands significant. The magical world or society or era gave way to the religious society or era. What happened with religion is the fact that along with science religion served to rationalize and ultimately erode the magical mythical world view. The shift in historicity at this juncture as we have already seen is the shift from magic to religion. In the era of religion what was at play is, religion demanded a more coherent meaningful justification of human suffering8 and most important by the enumeration of directives outlining the way of life most likely to win salvation. Another key facet of this era is that religious disciplined action; neither leisure nor contemplation was interpreted as a sign of Gods glory. Labour was perceived as mere means to satisfy the immediate material interest of the individual and his community. Worldly activity for Weber was ennobled and given a sense of inner dignity when in the Calvinist mind, it was seen in a sense as a visible confirmation of one’s faith. But in the modern period the work ethic as Weber will put it, will express itself in the more secular form. We will come to discover that in the modern era every ascetic action has come to be regarded as an activity of intrinsic worth as a good in and for itself.9 6 Gilbert .G Germain, (1993), A discourse on Disenchantment: Reflections on Policies and Technology, (New York: University of New York Pres), 29. 7 Ibid, 29. 8 Gilbert .G. Germain, (1993), A discourse on Disenchantment: Reflections on Policies and Technology, (New York: University of New York Pres), 35 9 Ibid, 35. 5 At its height the phase of religion (he is referring to catholic Christianity) was dominant of the medieval period or the Middle Ages as many will call it. The medieval religious practices were linked with the church which found itself stranded with tradition and belief that the working of miracles was the most efficacious means of demonstrating its monopoly of faith. By the twelfth and thirteen century, the lives of the saints had assumed a stereotyped pattern wherein they glorified the miraculous achievements of holy people, discussed how they could prophesise, control the weather, provide protection against fire and flood and bring relief to the sick. Again an enchanted worldview was at play here.10 Whilst ideas such as these continued into the modern era, there is a decline was in religion and the super naturalistic worldview started experiencing erosion. Although the erosion began during the Renaissance and reformation, Weber would say from the time of industrial revolution, it had significantly picked up.11 1.1.3. The Modern Era The renaissance and later the enlightenment era brought in drastic changes in human history. The French revolution, American war of independence brought in reason, science, rationality and logic as the basis of assuming human society and human reality. By the enlightenment period, there was a change in belief structures and the normative order of society.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences'
    H-Ideas Ungureanu on Josephson-Storm, 'The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences' Discussion published by Madeleine Elfenbein on Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm. The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2017. xiv + 411 pp. $96.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-226-40322-9; $32.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-226-40336-6. Reviewed by James Ungureanu (University of Queensland) Published on H-Sci-Med-Tech (October, 2018) Commissioned by Daniel Liu (Universty of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities) Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=51225 Auguste Viatte, in his two-volume classic, Les sources occultes du Romantisme (1928), was perhaps the first modern scholar to emphasize the importance of occult, theosophical, and esoteric movements in Enlightenment thought. Paul Oskar Kristeller then expanded on Viatte’s thesis by pointing out that Renaissance humanism was also permeated with elements from esoteric writings. “Western Esotericism,” as it is now called by scholars, is a mixture of philosophy, religion, art, literature, music, and even science, whose representative figures sought to return to “ancient” foundational texts, “original” forms of religious practice, and a more “natural” religion. The academic study of Western Esotericism has become an important feature in modern religious studies. Scholars such as W. J. Hanegraaff, Kocku von Stuckrad, and Egil Asprem, to name only a few, all argue that this originalist attitude is a major undercurrent of modernity, a religious subculture abundantly present in mainstream theological, philosophical, and scientific discourse.
    [Show full text]
  • Friedrich Schlegel, Romanticism, and the Re‐Enchantment of Nature
    This article was downloaded by: [Lancaster University Library] On: 07 June 2012, At: 07:09 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/sinq20 Friedrich Schlegel, Romanticism, and the Re‐enchantment of Nature Alison Stone a a Lancaster University, UK b Institute for Environment, Philosophy & Public Policy, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, UK E-mail: Available online: 21 Aug 2006 To cite this article: Alison Stone (2005): Friedrich Schlegel, Romanticism, and the Re‐enchantment of Nature, Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 48:1, 3-25 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00201740510015338 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara the Disenchantment of The
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara The Disenchantment of the World and Ontological Wonder A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies by Martin Becker Lorca Committee in charge: Professor Thomas A. Carlson, Chair Professor Elliot R. Wolfson Professor Andrew Norris June 2019 The dissertation of Martin Becker Lorca is approved. ____________________________________________ Elliot R. Wolfson ____________________________________________ Andrew Norris ____________________________________________ Thomas A. Carlson, Committee Chair March 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been finished without the help of family and friends, I would like them thank here: In thank my classmates at UCSB, Dusty Hoesly, Michael Kinsella, Matt Robertson and Sohaira Siddiqui, for their intellectual companionship and friendship. For making possible the practice of reflection as a communal enterprise, I thank my friends: Eva Braunstein, Chris Morales, Samantha Kang, Lucas Wright, and Tim Snediker, who gave life to the philosophical group at Santa Barbara. With deep gratitude, for his precious help in editing and in giving essential feedback, I thank my friend Garrett Baer, with whom, in our philosophical walks at Lake Los Carneros (Goleta)—embodying the old peripatetic tradition—let ourselves to philosophize freely and sincerely. For crucial help editing this work, I thank Garrett Baer, Ryan Kelley, Allice Haynes, Kali Handelman, Kevin Johnston, Alexander Cohen, and Arnulf Becker Lorca. Much of the interpretation of “the nothing” comes from long and deep conversations with Franco Bertossa and Ricardo Pulido. I thank them for raising the question of Being, the one that touches “to the point where our entire nature is so shaken that is will never again be the same” (Heidegger, What is Called Thinking?, 179).
    [Show full text]
  • The Disenchantment of Logically Formal Legal Rationality, Or Max Weber’S Sociology in the Genealogy of the Contemporary Mode of Western Legal Thought
    The Disenchantment of Logically Formal Legal Rationality, or Max Weber’s Sociology in the Genealogy of the Contemporary Mode of Western Legal Thought Duncan Kennedy* Introduction Max Weber began his sociology of law with a description of the then present of Western legal thought, along with a brief summary of its pre- vious stages. This appreciation begins with a summary description of the Western legal thought of Weber’s time, as it looks from our present one hundred years later, emphasizing the contrast between the mainstream of his time, now called Classical Legal Thought, and its critics in the “social current.” Part II presents Weber’s sociology of law, comparing and con- trasting his approach with that of the social current. The most striking thing about Weber’s sociology of law, from the perspective of legal the- ory a century after he wrote, is his ambivalent endorsement of legal for- malism. This entailed rejection of the social current’s critique, a critique that is close to universally accepted today. In Part III, I explain Weber’s attitude toward legal formalism as motivated by the internal require- ments of his theory of domination, in which, after the demise of all ear- lier modes of legitimation, the Iron Cage of modernity is held together by bureaucrats defined by their adherence to that mode of legal reasoning. Part IV argues that Weber’s approach was inconsistent with the irration- alist and decisionist strands in his own theory of modernity, a theory that helps in understanding the current situation of legal thought, if we take the un-Weberian step of applying it to legal formalism.
    [Show full text]
  • About Modern Society and Culture
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The problem of disenchantment: scientific naturalism and esoteric discourse, 1900-1939 Asprem, E. Publication date 2013 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Asprem, E. (2013). The problem of disenchantment: scientific naturalism and esoteric discourse, 1900-1939. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:03 Oct 2021 1 The Intellectual Sacrifice You need to beware of the word Entzauberung as cautiously as you beware of the word secularization. Both describe processes where it is easy to have fanciful pictures of an earlier age, and as easy to have illusions of our own generation. We got rid of imps and demons but we pushed them into the subconscious and called them by different names.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Meanings of Disenchantment: Sociological Condition Vs
    Philosophy & Th eology 17, 1 & 2 51 TWO MEANINGS OF DISENCHANTMENT: SOCIOLOGICAL CONDITION VS. PHILOSOPHICAL ACT— REASSESSING MAX WEBER’S THESIS OF THE DISENCHANTMENT OF THE WORLD Jeffrey E. Green Harvard University Abstract Although the primary meaning of Max Weber’s concept of dis- enchantment is as a sociological condition (the retreat of magic and myth from social life through processes of secularization and rationalization), as Weber himself makes clear in his address, “Sci- ence as a Vocation,” disenchantment can also be a philosophical act: an unusual form of moral discourse that derives new ethical direction out of the very untenability of a previously robust moral tradition. The philosophical variant of disenchantment is significant both because it contradicts numerous elements of the sociological version and because it suggests there are forms of cognition unique to moral philosophy (insofar as the derivation of a moral teaching from the very absence of one is foreign to both a religious and a scientific mindset). “Que sommes-nous donc sans le secours de ce qui n’existe pas?” —Paul Valéry For Anthony Kronman According to the biographical account of Max Weber written by his wife, the most fundamental animating concern underlying Weber’s vast body of research was the following dynamic: “He was moved, 52 Green: Two Meanings of Disenchantment above all, by the fact that on its earthly course an idea always and everywhere operates in opposition to its original meaning and thereby destroys itself” (Weber 1975, 337).1 This dialectic between an idea’s intended meaning and the effective truth of it actual implementation can be found in a variety of places within the Weberian corpus.
    [Show full text]
  • Being “A Good Animal”: Adorno, Posthumanism and International Relations
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UEL Research Repository at University of East London Being “a Good Animal”: Adorno, Posthumanism and International Relations Stephen Hobden University of East London UK E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: This article examines the potential contribution of the work of Theodor Adorno to the development of a posthuman analysis of international relations. Despite a recent blossoming of “Adorno studies,” his writings on nature, particularly his concerns regarding human relations with other species, have received comparatively little attention. The article argues that many of the central concerns driving the recent development of posthuman analyses of international relations overlap with some of Adorno’s core preoccupations. In Dialectic of Enlightenment in particular, much concern is directed at the perceived disenchantment with nature and the impacts of this disenchantment both on human relations with the rest of nature, but also with inter-human relations. Adorno’s focus on the attention to suffering being the “condition for all truth” is not restricted simply to the human and coincides with the ethical concerns of posthuman approaches. Finally, whilst it has been claimed that Adorno’s work, especially his notion of the totally administered society, leads to a political impasse, it will be suggested here that recent work by Fabian Freyenhagen on the practical elements of Adorno’s philosophy suggest that our priority, rather than living rightly, should be on “living less wrongly.” Keywords Adorno, posthumanism, international relations theory, inter-species relations, suffering, Critical Theory Being “a Good Animal”: Adorno, Posthumanism and International Relations Stephen Hobden “What's driving there in the car and sticking out its long trunk? Its a mammoth, its a mammoth, and its driving home”1 Introduction The photograph of Theodor Adorno from 1943 is somewhat surprising.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION the Limits of Reason
    INTRODUCTION The Limits of Reason Nature is false; but I’m a bit of a liar myself. — aleister crowley, The Book of Lies, ch. 79 this book is about people who have sought to explore the outer limits of reason. Some of them were eminent natural scientists, some were philosophers, while others were steeped in the currents of occultism. They all shared an opposition to certain epistemological presuppositions that had been dominant since the Enlightenment. They re-visited fundamental questions concerning the possibility of metaphysics, freedom of will, and the explicability of the natural world. They redrew the relations between facts and values, mechanism and purpose, and science and religion. The solutions our protagonists came up with may appear heterodox when judged against the received view of Enlightenment thought. Yet, their ostensibly deviant responses were formulated in the middle of one of the most extraordinary periods of scientific development in recorded human history. Indeed, some of our protagonists contributed directly to those very developments. The core argument of this book revolves around the famous thesis attributed to Max Weber that a process of intellectualisation and ratio- nalisation has led to the “disenchantment of the world”.1 This process was thought to be theological in origin: the invention of monotheism in antiq- uity pushed the divine, mysterious, capricious and “magical” out of the mundane affairs of the world, paving the way for a rationalisation of ethi- cal systems and economic behaviour as well as epistemology.2 The move from theological immanence to transcendence was radicalised during the Reformation, in polemical exchanges where the “pagan” immanence of Roman Catholicism was singled out as heretical by Lutheran and Calvinist 1 See especially Weber, ‘Wissenschaft als Beruf’.
    [Show full text]
  • Disenchantment, Actually Doug Sikkema
    Disenchantment, Actually Doug Sikkema f you remember anything from tory of science,” one we tell ourselves high school science, you may in the modern, secular world: the Iremember something of Marie story of disenchantment. Josephson- Curie. She was a pioneer in chemis- Storm summarizes it as follows: try and physics, and the only person ever The Myth of Disenchantment: ...at a particular to be awarded Nobel Magic, Modernity, and the moment the dark- Prizes in both. Her Birth of the Human Sciences ness of supersti- By Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm tion, myth, or reli- research on radioac- Chicago ~ 2017 ~ 400 pp. gion began to give tivity led her to the $96 (cloth) $32 (paper) way to modern light, discovery of poloni- exchanging tradi- um and radium, and helped make tional unreason for technology possible technologies used in cancer and rationality. When told in a treatment, nuclear energy, and nucle- soaring tone, this is a tale of tri- ar weapons. But while readers may umph; and when recounted in know this synopsis of her life, much a different and descending emo- less familiar is her abiding fascina- tional register, it can sound like tion with the paranormal — or that in the inauguration of our tragic 1907 this paragon of scientific ratio- alienation from an idealized past. nality attended a séance with Eusapia Palladino, a psychic rumored to make Whichever your take, the narrative objects move with her mind. abides: Modernity, thus understood, In The Myth of Dis enchantment: is an age of rationalism, science, and Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of technology that eventually (and inev- the Human Sciences, Williams College itably) overcame the mysterious won- religion professor Jason Ā.
    [Show full text]
  • Weber's Science As a Vocation
    JCS0010.1177/1468795X19851408Journal of Classical SociologyShapin 851408research-article2019 Article Journal of Classical Sociology 1 –18 Weber’s Science as a © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: Vocation: A moment in the sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X19851408DOI: 10.1177/1468795X19851408 history of “is” and “ought” journals.sagepub.com/home/jcs Steven Shapin Harvard University, USA Abstract This essay situates Weber’s 1917 lecture Science as a Vocation in relevant historical contexts. The first context is thought about the changing nature of the scientific role and its place in institutions of higher education, and attention is drawn to broadly similar sentiments expressed by Thorstein Veblen. The second context is that of scientific naturalism and materialism and related sentiments about the “conflicts” between natural science and religion. Finally, there is the context of Weber’s lecture as a performance played out before a specific academic audience at the University of Munich, and the essay suggests the pertinence of that performance to an appreciation of the lecture’s meaning. Keywords Max Weber, vocation, science, Thorstein Veblen, scientific naturalism, scientific materialism Science as a vocation: Its past and present Here are several things typical of modern academic performances, whether written or oral. First, there is a display of efforts to get the facts right, to show that matters are indeed as they are said to be. Second, there is an expectation that at least some of those facts are, to a degree, novel, non-obvious, worth pointing out, and that the interpretations or explanations in which the facts are enlisted are plausible, similarly novel, and meriting consideration.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Esotericism? Does It Exist? How Can It Be Understood?
    Helmut Zander What Is Esotericism? Does It Exist? How Can It Be Understood? Abstract: The term “esotericism” has been used by practitioners since the late 18th century to describe non-hegemonic ideas and practices. The ideas behind this term were mainly Christian ideas – or ideas from other sources (e.g. “pagan” ones), inter- preted by Christians. In the 20th century, the term esotericism became a scientific concept in Western Europe and North America, following a theological path which was opened in the 17th century. This cultural relativity limits the possible application of this term to other regions, cultures or language traditions and claims to determine possible semantic, pragmatic or functional equivalents from a critical perspective. Consequently, there is no culturally invariant “essence” of “esotericism”.Eachcon- cept applied to “esotericism” contains only possible – not mandatory – features and involves normative decisions. If one uses such a “toolbox” of features, a com- parison of different phenomena or traditions is only possible with regard to specific features or a group of features. Consequence: Concrete definitions of esotericism apply only to concrete fields of research – which means: Different definitions of eso- tericism will overlap. They will have family resemblances but never be identical. Since our concepts of esotericism will alwaysbedifferent,intercultural comparison will remain difficult. However, scholarly research must resist (over-)simplification when it comes to interpreting reality. 1 The Religionist Problem of “Esotericism” The term “esotericism” (which will henceforth be used mainly without quota- tion marks) is a relatively recent production of the history of the English lan- guage. Comparable results are found for the other languages of Western Europe.1 This term first appeared in German in 1792 in a text on the “esotericism of the Order” of the ancient Pythagoreans,2 but remained extremely rare for a long time.
    [Show full text]
  • Rationalisation, Nihilism and Metaphysics ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Jan Overwijk 3400247 August 14Th 2015
    Rationalisation, Nihilism and Metaphysics ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Jan Overwijk 3400247 August 14th 2015 Supervisors: Prof. dr. Bert van den Brink Prof. dr. Gregg Lambert Prof. dr. Teun Tieleman Summary This thesis is concerned with the theme of modernisation as rationalisation in Jürgen Habermas’s social theory. It starts, in section I, with an exploration of the origins of the rationalisation thesis in Max Weber’s work. We will see that he represents rationalisation as the proliferation of a formal rationality throughout various social spheres due to technological advance. This formal, technical means-rationality drives out reasonings about substantive ends. Hence, the Weberian theme of rationalisation represents a species of nihilism. Habermas, as we see in section II, reformulates Weber’s sociological framework in terms of purposive action oriented to success and communicative action oriented to mutual understanding. Put simply, the former deals with means, the latter with ends. Habermas furthermore locates social spheres that house patterns of purposive and communicative action, namely respectively the system and the lifeworld. Like Weber, Habermas identifies the tendency for the system to drive out reasonings about ends, i.e. to ‘colonise’ the lifeworld. This colonisation thesis is Habermas’s central diagnosis of social pathologies in modern society. In section III, I will turn to a second-order analysis of works in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) in order to criticise Habermas’s notion of purposive rationality and the system. I will argue that Habermas’s Weberian depiction of rationalisation as a nihilist social force tends to become a metaphysics, because Habermas theorises technical rationality as a norm-free instrument.
    [Show full text]