ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explore the theoretical potential of enchantment. It first turns to recent scholarship on two possible sources of Weber’s concept of disenchantment (‘Entzauberung’) in order to illuminate an inherent tension in the concept of enchantment (‘Zauber’). Then, it examines the recently revitalized debate on disenchantment in the second edition of Weber’s Protestant Ethic and argues that Weber’s specific use of this concept is marked by a consciously intended, unifying theoretical gesture. Finally, in line with a similarly unified conception of the idea of an enchanted world, new avenues for reflection on reenchantment are opened up by blurring the boundaries between different value spheres, most notably those of science, art and religion.
