ABSTRACT
REASONS TO BE CAUTIOUS: WEBER AND MODERNITY The question of the fate of humanity under conditions of modernity is at the centre of Weber's work. For Weber the 'problematic of the modern mode of life - disenchanted, rationalised, disciplined' (Hennis 1988: 92) introduces a process of depersonalisation which increasingly affects all aspects of human life, undercutting in particular the possibility of an ethical conduct of life. The more the modern world is 'rationalised' the less the likelihood of living life in an ethically interpretable manner. The 'opacity of the world in which we are "placed" to ethical interpretation is the "fate" with which Weber's work struggles' (Hennis 1988: 102). It is the consequences or costs of the dissolution of personal and ethical relations synonymous with traditional forms of life that constitutes the central theme of Weber's exploration of the impact of modern reason on social conditions and human experiences.
