A comparison between Karl Marx
Karl Marx and Max Weber are two of the most important figures in the science of sociology. Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in the city of Trier, Germany and was the forefather to the great communist revolution that swept across a large part of the world at the beginning of the 20th Century. Marx is regarded as an economic and political philosopher. However, when compared to one of the founders of sociology Max Weber, Marx's theories still have a clear resonance within this related field. Max Weber was born on April 21st, 1864, in the town of Erfurt, Germany into a wealthy and educated family. Like Marx, Weber was a political economist. However, although there were similarities in some of their theories, there were far more distinct differences. The purpose of this paper is to compare both Marx's "Class" society and Weber's "Rational" society theories and then to evaluate their relevance in contemporary society. At the core of Karl Marx's socio-economic theory was the theory of "class and conflict" and it ultimately became very much a capitalist critique. Marx claimed that an individual's class position is determined by his or her relationship to the "Forces" (means) of production. If a person was in the position of owning th
In many large semi-skilled/skilled workforces, there has always been a very clear distinction between the owners of the means to production and the works. Weber on the other hand seems to be more of an observer and does little to suggest any route out of the ever advancing rationalisation. He also stated that with their economic power came political power, and hence the ruling class influenced all spheres of society. However, Weber does give some historical background within which the beginnings of his theory grew. In addition, the ideology of the ruling class also subjugated the proletariat into believing that their life was natural and normal. Weber also establishes that rationality in capitalism has permeated authority as well social action. Protestants had a very strong work ethic that meant if their hard work was helping others with goods, or services etc, then they were also doing good work in eyes of God. He does this by attaching importance to the proliferation of the Protestant church within Western Europe around the time of the rise of the capitalism. However, what they obviously do not agree on is both how some becomes alienated and who specifically is affected. The fact that they were both written in time when capitalism was in its infancy makes it all the more interesting to attempt to apply both of them to today's highly developed capitalist society. He identified four main types of action in society; traditional action - involves action related to a routine or historical convention, affective action - involves action related to emotions and desires, value based rational action - involves action related to a belief in the sentiment behind it, and finally, technical based rational action - involves a weighing up of the pros and cons of an action before taking a considered option. Near all of the large good producing multi-nation companies from western countries conduct their using this type of model. The Protestant church was keen to discard the very ritualistic and sometimes mystical aspects of Christianity and instead focused on being democratic and rational. These would include Family, Religion, Legal Systems, and Education etc.
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