ABSTRACT
Max Weber's sociology of law forms an essential part of his overall interpretive sociology. Its point of departure lies in the highly critical stance that Weber adopted towards Rudolf Stammler's study on law and economy. This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in preceding chapters of this book. The book focuses on to three angles of analysis to the problematic of rationalization in the legal sphere, delimiting by analogy three corresponding dimensions: the logical coherence of law, its empirical validity and finally its legitimacy. It considers the 'England Problem', that is, the fact that actually capitalism developed first in a common law context, far away, according to some commentators, from Weber's ideal type of formally rational law supposedly needed by modern industrial capitalism. The book ends with an appeal to empirically apply Weber – without neglecting of course other sociological traditions – in order to analyze law interaction with other spheres of social action.
