Max Weber and Karl Marx

Statement of the problem

General characterisation of Weber and Marx

Weber's interpretation of the bourgeois-capitalist world in terms of 'rationalisation'. The starting point of Weber's research

Rationality as the problematic expression of the modern world

Rationality as the capacity for individual responsibility amidst universal dependency

Marx's interpretation of the bourgois-capitalist world in terms of human 'self-alientation'. The historical devlopment of the concept from Hegel through Feuerbach to Marx

The economic expression of human self-alientation in the commodity

The political expression of human self-alienation in bourgeois society

The direct social expression of human self-alienation in the proletariat

Weber's critique of the materialist conception of history. Weber's indirect critique of Marx in the dispute with Stammler

Weber's critique of Marx in the sociology of religion.