THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION - WEBER

This text presents a unique work by the most eminent sociologist of recent times, Max Weber.
Many of Weber's works have become available in English during the generation since Frank H
Knight translated Wirtschaftsgeschichte (General Economic History) in 1927. The first English
translation of a Weber work was followed by Talcott Parsons' translation of Weber's most
famous essay, Die Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitahsmus (The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism). A large body of Weber's works has been translated to English,
including all of the essays or monographs collected in Weber's Gesammelte Aufsatze zur
Religionssoziologie. However, there has been no English language version of the important
treatise on the sociology of religion entitled "Rehgionssoziologie" (The Sociology of Religion),
of mono-graph length, which forms part of his vast systematization of the social sciences,
Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Economics and Society).

Weber not only coined the term "Rehgionssoziologie" for the social analysis approach to
Christian and non-Chinese religions but also created the discipline of the sociology of religion
with his friends Ernst Troeltsch and Werner Sombart. Weber has received great praise for his
logic, systematization, fabulous erudition, and brilliance, lucidity, and energy of his thinking.
Toward the end of his life, Weber embarked upon the writing of a systematic summary of the
sociology of religion, the work here translated into English, not as an independent undertaking
but as a part of his massive but never completed Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. The monographic
section devoted to the sociology of religion has not previously been translated into English,
despite its undeniable importance and stimulus.

Many of the imperfections in the text of "Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft" have been corrected in
good measure by Johannes F. Wmckelmann, now the curator of the Max Weber Archiv of the
Soziologisches Institut at the University of Münster. The new edition of "Wirtschaft und
Gesellschaft" contains the "Religionssoziologie" section toward the end of the first volume,
dealing with economics and social institutions and forces.

Max Weber, a pioneer in German theoretical sociology, is renowned for his unique combination
of knowledge, impartial observation, and scientifically cautious nostalgia towards religious
phenomena. His work, "Religionssoziologie," is considered the most erudite and penetrating
achievement of modern social science, despite its incompleteness and formal imperfections.
Weber's treatment of religion combines some of the universality of Burckhardt's
Weltgeschichthche Betrachtungen, the existential perceptivity required by those coming after
Nietzsche, Marx, Dilthey, and Freud, and a superb penchant for the architectonic construction of
sociological categories.

Weber's posthumous manual of sociology, "Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft," is considered one of

the most comprehensive and powerful works of scholarship in the social sciences. It unites
formidable erudition from all social sciences with theoretical conceptualization of a high order,
impressive even among German sociologists who presided over methodology. The massiveness
and scope of Weber's posthumous manual of sociology make it a testament to intellectual power.
Weber's life work, which includes "Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft," continues to exercise great
influence, even by writers who are critical of some of Weber's major positions. Leo Strauss, who
has subjected Weber's political theory to strong criticism, says of Weber, "Whatever may have
been his errors, he is the greatest social scientist of our century."

Translation of Max Weber's works has been a challenge due to his disdain for language's
ordinary proprieties, adoption of neologisms, formidable learning in multiple languages,
multiplication of meanings, syntactical idiosyncrasies, and nominalistic irony. Hans Gerth has
characterized Weber's style as "Gothic-castle" and "Platonizmg," with some terms being virtually
untranslatable. Many translators have commented on the difficulties of Weber's language and
style, with differing renderings of the same German words. Even German thinkers, such as Karl
Jaspers, have referred to the idiosyncrasies of Weber's style and the gap between the acuity of his
thought and the unstudied disorder of his expression.

The present translation has consistently settled in favor of style and accuracy, reducing the length
of paragraphs and sentences. However, relative claims of Weber's literary pattern and English
language accessibility have been settled in favor of the latter. In the interest of clarity and
readability, some brief sections have been incorporated into the English translation.

Weber's writing contains repetitions and excursions with returns to the central concern, and is
often marked by not quite necessary enumerations, parentheses, and incidental notions. He was
loath to read his manuscripts or printed pieces, taking no pleasure in his work but proceeding
further along the path. Despite being formless at a time when there was a general striving to blow
up puny forms, Weber achieved a form of genuineness that is the adequate expression of truly
original thought and fulfilled humanity.

Hence, Max Weber is known for his extravagant, unassuming, and open language, allowing
himself to be shown without any artificial elevation of expression. This English translation of
Weber's sociology of religion and culture is available to students who can't cope with the
"anfractuosities" of his intellect and temper when expressed in his native Teutomc idiom. The
preparation of this English version was greatly aided by the clerical and editorial assistance of
the author, Marion Judson Fischoff, and Alice M Childs. The translator's responsibility to convey
the thought and spirit of an important foreign work has motivated him to convey the thought and
spirit of an important foreign work. The hope is that this English version will increase knowledge
of Weber's contributions and stimulate increased application to the enrichment of the fields in
which he worked.