Max Weber
German sociologist and political economist
Max Weber was a German sociologist, historian and political economist who helped shape the social sciences. He wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
1 summary 15 min of listening
Born 1864 in Erfurt, Germany Died 1920
About Max Weber
Max Weber lived from 1864 to 1920. He was born in Erfurt and studied law and history in Berlin, Göttingen and Heidelberg. He earned his law doctorate in 1889 and then taught in Berlin, Freiburg and Heidelberg. After a breakdown in 1897 he stopped teaching and traveled for several years. Once he recovered, he wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, in which he argued that the Protestant work ethic helped shape modern capitalism. Much of his work looked at rationalisation and disenchantment. He also wrote about authority, which he divided into charismatic, traditional and rational-legal forms. After the First World War he co-founded the German Democratic Party and advised on drafting the Weimar Constitution. He died of pneumonia in 1920 and left Economy and Society unfinished.