Max Weber’s social ontology

A rereading from Brian Epstein’s anchor individualism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7289.2022.1.42835

Keywords:

Max Weber, Social Ontology, Anchor individualism, Brian Epstein

Abstract

The article presents a re-reading of Max Weber’s sociology based on Brian Epstein’s anchor individualism. After presenting Gert Albert’s thesis on Weber’s ontology, we reconstruct, in its broad outlines, the concepts of anchoring and grounding in Epstein’s individualistic ontology. We thus demonstrate that for Weber the social level is “anchored” in individuals conceived in their double dimension as bio-psychological and cultural beings. Regarding the “grounding” of the social, we show that the concept of meaningful action can be read as a form of mental projection that finds its collective translation in the dimension of institutionalized social relations [Social Order]. In this way, the relationship between the institutional level and the individual level is not thought of in terms of direct causation, but as “dependence” [grouding]. 

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Author Biographies

Carlos Eduardo Sell, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Ufsc), Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.

Doutor em Sociologia Política pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Ufsc), em Florianópolis, SC, Brasil. Professor adjunto na mesma universidade.

Bruna dos Santos Bolda, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Ufsc), Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.

Mestre em Sociologia Política pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Ufsc), em Florianópolis, SC, Brasil. Doutoranda em Sociologia e Ciência Política pela mesma instituição.

References

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Published

2022-12-08

How to Cite

Sell, C. E., & Bolda, B. dos S. (2022). Max Weber’s social ontology: A rereading from Brian Epstein’s anchor individualism. Civitas: Journal of Social Sciences, 22, e42835. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7289.2022.1.42835