![]() ![]() It is constructed by exaggeration or accentuation of one or more elements or points of view observable in reality. In case of sociology also, the theoretical analysis is possible only in terms of such pure ideal types.Īccording to him, the ideal type serves its methodological function in a better way if it is more and more abstract and unrealistic. ![]() He points out that the case is similar to a physical reaction which is carried forward on the assumption of an absolute vacuum. (d) It is not a formulation of concrete traits common to a class of concrete things.Īccording to Weber, it is necessary for the sociologist to construct pure ideal type of actions in order to give precise meaning to them. ![]() According to him (a) it is not a hypothesis in the sense that it is a proposition about concrete reality, which is verifiable, (b) It is not a description of reality or existing process, (c) It is not average in the sense what we say that the average man weighs 70 kgs. Weber defines ideal types negatively i.e. For example, the typology of social action and authority presented by Weber is an ideal type which concentrates attention on extreme or polar types. Thus ideal type is a generalized concept and by using it, the sociologist can classify a large number of cases in a few categories. It does not describe an individual course of action but a typical one. This ideal type does not describe concrete course of action, but under normal conditions an ideal course of action. The ideal type is the methodological tool which enables the sociologist to analyze and comprehend the social actions. The ideal type presents a pattern which may not exist in reality, but is constructed by the sociologist for comprehending the meaning of social actions. The ideal type is not merely an abstraction but a specific type of abstraction. The second type of meaning is the principle which is known as the ideal type. Thus an ideal type is a methodological tool that serves the investigator as a measuring rod to ascertain similarities as’ well as deviations in concrete cases.Īccording to Weber, there are two types of meaning of an action-(a) actually existing meaning to a concrete individual action and (b) a theoretically conceived pure type of subjective meaning. In the words of Shils and Finch, “An ideal type is formed by the one-sided accentuation of one or more points of view and by the synthesis of a great many diffuse, discrete,’ more or less present and occasionally absent concrete individual phenomena, which are arranged according to those one-sidedly emphasized viewpoints into a unified analytical construct”. He developed the concept of ideal types for such an analysis. The main concern of Weber was to define generalized categories for the analysis of social phenomena. According to him, the major characteristic of the modern world is rationalization, which is expressed in the sphere of Zweck rational actions. The classification of action into various types by Weber is governed to a certain extent by interpretation of the contemporary period of history. In this case, the individual performs the action according to the customs or traditions which have become a part of his personality because of conditioning.Īccording to Weber, the subject matter of sociology is social action, n sociology an effort has to be made to understand the meanings which an individual attaches to his conduct. This type of action is dictated by beliefs and customs which become habitual. In this case, the action is not oriented to a goal or a system of value rather it is determined by an emotional reaction of the actor in a given set of circumstances. This type of action is emotional and is dictated primarily by the state of mind of the actor, for example, the slap which the mother gives her child because of his bad behaviour. His action is rational not because it seeks to attain a definite and external goal but because to abandon the sinking ship would be regarded as dis-honourable. This type of action is also rational action but in relation to values, for example, a brave captain goes down with his sinking ship. However, Weber defines rationality in terms of knowledge of the actor. For example, action of the engineer, who is building a bridge or army general who wants to win a war? In such actions an actor clearly knows his goals and selects specific means to attain these goals. It corresponds to Pareto’s logical action. This is a rational action which is performed in relation to a goal. A brief description of these four types of actions is as follows: Zweck rational action: ![]()
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