“‘Objectivity' in Social Science and Social Policy” and the Critique of Psychologism

Weber’s first methodological musings on the subject of psychology’s place in social analysis are found in the first two essays he wrote as he partially recovered from a protracted mental collapse that had lasted five years (1897–1902) and during which for extended periods he had been unable to write or—for most of these years—even read works dealing with the social sciences. ¹ The two essays are “Roscher’s ‘Historical Method’” (begun in the spring of 1902 but mostly written in 1903) and “‘Objectivity’ in Social Science and Social Policy” (written for the most part during the month of January 1904). ² Since, in regard to psychology, the essays cover similar ground, but the latter in a more developed manner, I will focus here on this second essay. This essay on “Objectivity” was written at the same time that Weber was beginning to work on the first part of his most famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which I will examine in the next chapter. ³