Max Weber: Collected Methodological Writings

Weber’s methodological writings form the bedrock of key ideas across the social sciences. His discussion of value freedom and value commitment, causality, understanding and explanation, theory building and ideal types have been of fundamental importance, and their impact remains undiminished today. These ideas influence the current research practice of sociologists, historians, economists and political scientists and are central to debates in the philosophy of social science. But, until now, Weber's extensive writings on methodology have lacked a comprehensive publication.

Edited by two of the world's leading Weber scholars, Collected Methodological Writings will provide a completely new, accurate and reliable translation of Weber’s extensive output, including previously untranslated letters. Accompanying editorial commentary explains the context of, and interconnections between, all these writings, and additional useful features include a glossary of German terms and an English key, endnotes, bibliography, and person and subject indexes.

Hans Henrik Bruun is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen. He collaborated on the first comprehensive Danish translation of Weber’s selected writings. His Science, Values and Politics in Max Weber's Methodology (Ashgate, 2010, 1st edn 1972) has remained a standard reference work on values in Weber’s methodology for over three decades.

Sam Whimster is Professor at the Global Policy Institute, London, and Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study ("Recht als Kultur"), University of Bonn.  His publications include Reforming the City: Responses to the global financial crisis(2009), Understanding Weber (2007), Essential Weber (2004), Max Weber and the Culture of Anarchy (1999) and, with Scott Lash, Max Weber, Rationality and Modernity (1987). He is the editor of the journal Max Weber Studies.