Where is Max Weber on the political compass?

He was a socialist.

Uh… I meant sociologist [face turning red]

@wundayatta He criticized socialism.

He was not a socialist. Wunda, did you read that article? Scroll down to “critique of socialism”. Not sure where he stood on decentralization or civil liberties.

I have an acquaintance who is a self-declared socialist who likes Weber though.

You all are right. I misread the article. I wasn’t really paying attention. Sorry about that.

Actually, saying he was a sociologist probably is not that far off. I.e., he seemed to be a scientist first and foremost. He was led by the data, and his theories were created from an understanding of the data, not from ideology. At least, that’s the impression I get from reading a bit more of the article.

If you have to turn “scientist” into an ideology, wouldn’t it be pragmatism? I.e., whatever your goals are, that’s what determines your actions.

Maybe not a socialist, but perhaps a liberal? The article says, “In 1912, Weber tried to organise a left-wing political party to combine social-democrats and liberals.” His father was a liberal, as well.

@wundayatta I thought that might be what happened.

When scientific research gets mixed up with ideology, it ceases to be science. When science itself becomes idolized, or is considered the sole source of truth, the result is scientism, not pragmatism.

@submariner

Great answer! : )