Sinn, Wert und Erfahrung

As long as Max Weber’s sociology remains confined to the very idea of methodological individualism, the theoretical unit of value-rational action and the validity of value spheres cannot be established. This thesis proposes a consistent externalist interpretation of Weber in the light of an updated reading of neo-Kantianist value theory. The study evolves this externalist interpretation by critically analysing pragmatist, phenomenological and system-theoretical arguments. It becomes apparent that naturalist as well as constructivist transformations of Weber’s concept of values fail to recognise the profound qualitative dimension of humans’ relationship to the world.
The author is the managing editor of the Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie. His work focuses on theoretical sociology, the sociology of knowledge, religion and lifestyle.