ABSTRACT
Ferdinand Toennies and Max Weber have much in common although there are differences that must not be overlooked. Both are typologists, even if their conceptualizations of ideal-typical procedure are not identical. They engaged in significant empirical investigations, especially regarding the condition of the working class, and they advocated the establishment of institutions in support of such investigations. The suggestion that Weber meant to argue implicitly against Toennies has recently been made by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich, in their three volume edition of Max Weber's Economy and Society. In a note to his paper "End and Means in Social Life", which is devoted to the memory of Max Weber, Toennies develops a related argument around the concepts of "ways" and "goals". There are many ways to a goal: they are shorter or longer, beautiful or obnoxious, convenient, or exerting. A further area of comparison between Toennies and Weber refers to the reality or unreality of collectivities.
