FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)1 Friedel Weinert: Philosophy of the Social Sciences Year II: Semester II Weber’s Ideal Types Lecture VI

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)2 oThe Role of Ideal Types in the Social Sciences Ûa synthesis between interpretative understanding of social action & empirical-causal explanation of social action Ûprovide useful models of human activity Ûwhich kind of models? øIllustrations Weber’s Ideal Types

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)3 Weber’s Ideal Types: Examples Free Markets self-regulating systems for distribution of goods and services minimal state intervention price determination through supply and demand curves Directed Markets centrally- regulated systems for distribution of goods and services maximum state intervention fixation of prices Country A Country E Example 1

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)4 Weber’s Ideal Types Example 2 Rational Choice Theory ìAim: explanation of human behaviour on level of Individualism ìAssumption 1 : social agents are rational agents ìAssumption 2 : individual behaviour is goal-directed and calculating ëfrom amongst several courses of action agents tend to choose the one with the best overall outcome ìResult: rational choice is instrumental ëit is guided by the outcomes (‘means-end rationality’) ëit aims at maximising utilities

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)5 oWeber’s Analysis of Ideal Types ÛWeber tends to regard ideal types as heuristic devices - mental constructions, limiting concepts Ûthey are not an expression of social or historical reality Ûexample: pure type of charismatic authority Ûthe social or historical reality is a deviation from the ideal type Ûfour functions of ideal types Weber’s Ideal Types - Analysis

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)6 Û[4 functions of ideal types] Ûhighlighting essential components of historical phenomena or movements (‘feudalism’, ‘imperialism’) Ûserving as limiting concepts (‘free markets’, ‘directed markets’) Ûreconstruct the ‘developmental sequences’ in history (Marx: feudalism  capitalism  socialism; Comte: theological stage  metaphysical stage  positive stage) Ûintroducing adequate causation and objective possibility in social sciences (sufficient conditions, mostly) Weber’s Ideal Types: Functions

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)7 $Tension between conceptual purity of ideal types  and their empirical usefulness   ideal types as theoretical constructions  approximation and idealisation with respect to empirical reality  changing nature of ideal types (‘social classes’, ‘social stratification’, ‘globalisation’)  Two interpretations of Ideal Types Weber’s Ideal Types: Different Senses

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)8 Objective Possibilities or Objective Probabilities Weber’s Ideal Types: Different Senses Ideal Types as heuristic devices theoretically possible reconstruction of human behaviour the economic agent unrealistic fiction abstract Ideal Types as hypothetical models theoretically plausible reconstruction of human behaviour the economic agent empirical reference model Analogy Analogy: Geocentricism and Copernicanism

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)9 oIdeal Types (constructed types) as hypothetical models in the social sciences oThree functions of models  abstraction [neglect certain parameters]  Idealisation [pure types & limit concepts]  Systematisation [show relations between parameters] Weber’s Ideal Types: Hypothetical Models Examples: free markets, rational agents Ideal Types as Models in the hypothetical sense: as if models  model social-economic reality as if it consisted only of parameters included in the model  homo economicus & homo sociologicus & psychological man  idealisation, abstraction, systematization  model expresses structure, approximating structure of empirical reality

FWeinert, Bradford University (UK)10 oSome limitations Çdegrees of idealisation and approximation Ædistinction between accidental and essential features Ægenuine and apparent deviations of the model from empirical reality Çgenerally, the problem of closure in the social sciences Ways to establish Ideal Types: ÆPsychological Experimentation ÇM. Sherif, The Psychology of Social Norms (1936) ÇS. Milgram, Obedience to Authority (1974) ÇLüscher colour test (1948) ÆStatistical Evidence ÆComparison of historical and contemporary processes Weber’s Ideal Types: Limitations