ABSTRACT
In the first essay that he wrote on Max Weber's work, Friedrich H. Tenbruck referred to the 'historical isolation' surrounding the interpretation of Weber's writing, an isolation that has closed off important aspects of its historical and genetic context. 1 Little has changed since 1959; on the contrary, the progressive consolidation of modern sociology has ensured that this situation remains fixed and unchanging. There is, of course, a mountainous literature on the so-called 'reception' of Weber. 2 Equally evident is the fact that this literature contributes very little to the understanding of Weber's work. The various evolutions in the game of Chinese whispers can certainly be highly amusing, but here as in scientific 'receptions' we do not expect the original message to survive the process. Or might we-to take the most 'fruitful' example-draw conclusions about Weber's 'interpretive sociology' on the basis of Talcott Parsons's Theory of Social Action? Parsons certainly thought so, 3 and a whole generation of sociologists has learnt to read Weber through his eyes.
