ABSTRACT

Weber's Weltanschauung was based on the conviction that it was impossible, objectively, rationally, and scientifically, to pass judgment on the value of a fact, theory, or mode of behavior; on the contrary, the individual must autonomously choose between alternatives. In his methodology, Weber is linked to the train of ideas of Christoph Sigwart, Wilhelm Dilthey, Georg Jellinek, Wilhelm Windelband, and especially Heinrich Rickert. Weber classified the sciences as being of nomothetic or idiographic character. The individual's decision in a given situation cannot be predicted with certainty, and hence it also cannot be taken into precise account. Weber devoted about one-third of the time he gave to scientific work to social and economic history. He had already, in his Berlin juristic dissertation, placed the trading companies that he discussed in an economic and sociological context. Weber thought of sociology as an empirical science that interprets the meaning of social action, which is based on the subjectively meaningful intent of the actors.