Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T05:00:40.960Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Max Weber's Tragic Modernism and the Study of Law in Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

David M. Trubek
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While Max Weber is revered as one of the patron saints of the law and society movement, his views on the nature and limits of sociological studies in law are not fully understood. Using recent analyses of Weber's legal thought (Kronman, 1983) and overall social theory (Alexander, 1983a), the author argues that while Weber set forth the standard, positivist understanding of the sociology of law that influences research to this day, at the same time he critiqued this understanding and in the end despaired that social science could contribute significantly to human emancipation. Arguing that Weber's tragic modernism is an inappropriate guide for law and society studies today, the author suggests an alternative vision in which the sociology of law is seen as part of a pragmatic enterprise of social transformation.

Type
Review Essay*
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , 1986 , pp. 573 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Law and Society Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

A review essay of Kronman, Anthony T. (1983) Max Weber. Stanford: Stanford University Press; and Alexander, Jeffrey C. (1983) Theoretical Logic in Sociology, Volume III. The Classical Attempt at Theoretical Synthesis: Max Weber. Berkeley: University of California Press.

This paper was originally presented in 1984 at the Seminar on Legal Ideology, in Amherst, Massachusetts, where the author had the opportunity to discuss these matters in a particularly stimulating environment. Rick Lempert suggested I undertake this project, and provided support and insightful criticism throughout. John Esser gave me invaluable assistance and advice at all stages of the project. Stewart Macaulay, Fernando Rojas, and Jack Schlegel provided helpful comments on an earlier draft.

References

ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. (1982a) Theoretical Logic in Sociology, Vol. 1, Positivism, Presuppositions, and Current Controversies. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. (1982b) Theoretical Logic in Sociology, Vol. 2. The Antinomies of Classical Thought: Marx and Durkheim. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. (1983a) Theoretical Logic in Sociology, Vol. 3, The Classical Attempt at Theoretical Synthesis: Max Weber. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. (1983b) Theoretical Logic in Sociology, Vol. 4, The Modern Reconstruction of Social Thought: Talcott Parsons. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
BERNSTEIN, Richard (1985) “Introduction,” in Bernstein, R. (ed.), Habermas and Modernity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
HELLER, Thomas (1979) “Is the Charitable Exemption from Property Taxation an Easy Case? General Concerns about Legal Economics and Jurisprudence,” in Rubinfeld, D. (ed.), Essays on the Law and Economics of Local Governments. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.Google Scholar
KRONMAN, Anthony T. (1983) Max Weber. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
PARSONS, Talcott (1967) “Evolutionary Universals in Society,” in Parsons, T. (ed.), Sociological Theory and Modern Society. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
TRUBEK, David (1985) “Reconstructing Max Weber's Sociology of Law,” 37 Stanford Law Review 919.Google Scholar
TRUBEK, David, John, ESSER, and Laurel, MUNGER (1986) Preliminary, Eclectic, Unannotated Working Bibliography for the Study of Max Weber's Sociology of Law. Madison: University of Wisconsin Institute for Legal Studies.Google Scholar
UNGER, Roberto (1975) Knowledge and Politics. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
WEBER, Max (1949) “Objectivity in Social Science and Social Policy,” in Shils, E. and Finch, H. (eds.), The Methodology of the Social Sciences: Max Weber. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Finch, H. (1958) “Science as a Vocation,” in Gerth, H. and Mills, C. (eds.), From Max Weber. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mills, C. (1968) Economy and Society, ed. Roth, G. and Wittich, C.. New York: Bedminster Press.Google Scholar
WELLMER, Albrect (1985) “Reason, Utopia, and Enlightenment,” in Bernstein, R. (ed.), Habermas and Modernity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar