A cognitive approach to Max Weber’s “Comprehensional Sociology” (with an exclusive focus on the Soziologische Grundbegriffe)

Abstract

In this paper, a cognitive-psychological reinterpretation is proposed for Weber’s most mature epistemological and general-sociological work, his Soziologische Grundbegriffe. This is not a “Weberological” study, as Weber himself would likely have rejected most of the proposals made here—primarily due to his peculiar metaphysical stance, which admits a tertium datur beyond the physical and psychological realms. That metaphysical conjecture is rejected in this chapter, as it conflicts with empirical approaches. Based on this intentionally anti-Weberian reinterpretation of Weber, several key concepts are reformulated through a more restrained metaphysical lens—one that firmly denies the existence of any possibly neither-physical-nor-psychical realm. The Weberian concepts discussed here are: (1) the concept of Sinn, redefined as “cognitive-and/or-emotional contents consciously or subconsciously present within a specific individual’s consciousness”; (2) the concept of Motiv, subjected to a complex analysis that resists concise formulation; (3) the concept of soziale Handlung, which is—pace Weber—shown to be of a purely psychological nature; (4) the concept of Evidenz, whose role is, again pace Weber, significantly restricted.