Weber was influenced by The Enlightenment & Kant. He addresses quantitative change for the most part from “current” western rational capitalist society forward. This type of philosophy undergirds his theory.
This is the customary way of doing things. It focuses on kinship, hunting gathering, agricultural through feudal societies. The primary motivation for people within those societies was maintaining this.
Weber he argued that it was in the basic tenets of this religion to boost capitalism. It lead to individualism, it was the religion of the enlightenment. It destroyed unity of church & state.
This form of authority is also based on tradition & customary way of doing things. Feudalism takes this form. These societies are larger with multiple extended families. The governing apparatus couldn’t be run by only kin so the oath of loyalty/fealty was to the monarch. It dictated the relationship between men & their ruler. It is based on loyalty to a traditional ruler.
Emotions like love, hate, fear, feelings, & subjective actions drive followers. Change is rooted in the power of this. For Weber the bridge from one type of social system to another is the 3rd form of power. Social change comes from this.
Weber's main intellectual concern was understanding this process along with, secularization, & "disenchantment" that he associated with the rise of capitalism & modernity & which he saw as the result of a new way of thinking about the world.
Weber takes the this into account, they are at the heart of making social structures work. Three core motivations undergird social actions and their influence on economic & political systems, types of culture, & ideas.
Arguing against Marx's historical materialism, Weber emphasized the importance of this influence embedded in religion as a means for understanding the genesis of capitalism.
This is unconstrained by tradition. The rise of rational culture supports rational legal authority, as an economic, political & social system. The legal rational state is bureaucracy, and the rational economy is ----------.
The rational state is governed by procedures & enacted by laws. It is hierarchical with concentration of power & authority at top. It has a high degree of specialization based on expertise with a clear division of tasks. There are narrow roles of responsibility, power & authority for each position. The means of administration are public & belong to state, not individual people. Leaders are chosen based on knowledge & expertise, independent from owners of wealth.
Patrimonial state
The first form of authority & the state is this. It is hierarchal, extends throughout ancient empires through feudalism. It is kinship based, collectively led by elders, etc. within hunting-gathering societies. It is male dominated & reinforced through social systems such as slavery.
Mechanical idealism
