essay questions on max weber

Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) and Max Weber (1864 - 1920) have often been regarded as the founding fathers of interpretive sociology, or of the social action approach within sociology. Marx and Weber’s characteristics of modern societies were different. Marx stressed capitalism and class conflict and Weber stressed rationalisation and bureaucracy.  Marx and Weber identified problems within modern society.  Marx had a generally optimistic view about the future and believed his theory could improve human conditions. Weber on the other hand was more pessimistic. Weber argued that modern societies are characterised increasingly by a process of rationalisation meaning that the world is increasingly governed by rationality in which tradition and affective forms of action are replaced by predominantly rational forms. This leads to disenchantment being seen as secularisation, including the progressive disposal of non-rational elements from all spheres of life.  Weber feared that this process of rationalisation would drive out the warmth and humanity of social life, the very things that give meaning to human existence. According to Marx however, modern societies are characterised by capitalism and who owns the means of production.  Marx distinguished four types of production that have succeeded each other; these are primitive communism, ancient society, feudalism and capitalism.  These types of production are characterised by a set of class relations.  Those who own the means of production exploit the labour of those who do not own the means of production.  In ancient society, masters exploited slaves.  In feudal society, Lords exploited serfs who were tied to the land; and in capitalist society, the bourgeoisie exploit the labour power of the proletariat who are forced to work for the bourgeoisie in order to survive.  In each case of production exploitation leads to class conflict.
Explain the five characteristics that make up the bureaucratic model as explained by the German sociologist and political economist Max Weber (1864–1920). Identify four of the five major types of organizations within the federal bureaucracy, and give examples of each. What are some of the classic criticisms of the bureaucracy, and what are some popular solutions for reforming it? Answers.
I’ve read 'politics as a vocation' and 'science as a vocation' so far. I picked this up on a recommendation as a philosopher who does it better than RW Emerson. (Read this and you can’t help but acknowledge that German Idealism is vastly superior to American transcendalism was the recommendation). The similarities and differences with Emerson are mildly striking. First, they are both lectures, most of emerson's writing evolved as speeches, and while I don't know if that’s true for Weber, these t I’ve read 'politics as a vocation' and 'science as a vocation' so far. I picked this up on a recommendation as a philosopher who does it better than RW Emerson. (Read this and you can’t help but acknowledge that German Idealism is vastly superior to American transcendalism was the recommendation). The similarities and differences with Emerson are mildly striking. First, they are both lectures, most of emerson's writing evolved as speeches, and while I don't know if that’s true for Weber, these two essays make it seem plausible. While the tone is very different, the emphasis on positive action and personal responsibility seems to be at the forefront for both philosophers. I found both of the essays to be very good, though I did breeze over the middle section of both of them where he compares differing aspects of politics and science in different countries. Someone studying the rise of nazism or the failure of america intellectualism might be very interested in it, but I'm not really. However there are some truly astounding sections, and his early dissection of political motivation seems very astute. The 2nd and 3rd pages of Politics are full of great lines, Like “the mores sanctified through the unimaginable ancient recognition and habitual orientation to conform” and “obedience is determined by highly robust motives of fear and hope”. 79 In general I found his asides to be.