Experimental Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychopathology in Max Weber's Methodology Writings

Misinterpretation of Weber's antipsychologism has led in turn to the mistaken idea that in his theory of social action, emotion-determined action is nothing more than a defective form of purposive rational action. In fact, given that for Weber sociological explanation necessarily involved under...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revue française de sociologie 2005-10, Vol.46 (4), p.767-782
Main Author: Frommer, Sabine
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Emotions
Motivation
Psychiatry
Psychological Factors
Psychology
Social Action
Sociological Theory
Weber, Max
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Misinterpretation of Weber's antipsychologism has led in turn to the mistaken idea that in his theory of social action, emotion-determined action is nothing more than a defective form of purposive rational action. In fact, given that for Weber sociological explanation necessarily involved understanding the motivations for action, the point for him was to delimit the field of the "understandable" & determine the epistemological & methodological status of the "understanding" undertaking. To do this, he closely examined all the disciplines of his time -- experimental psychology, psychiatry & psychopathology, even psychoanalysis -- whose research aim was to discover the nature & role of psychic factors. It was through this critical study, which took up questions as complex as relations between the psychic & the somatic, the role of heredity, & even what a sociopathological interpretation of culture would be, that he defined the place & status of what he termed "psychological understanding.". References. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0035-2969
DOI:10.3917/rfs.464.0745