Max Weber

These days, many consider Max Weber to be the most important cultural and social scientist, everybody around the globe is talking about the genius to whom a stamp was dedicated in Germany. Why? What makes him so great? How did he achieve a level in his discipline that is comparable to that of Goethe in the field of literature and that of Kant in the field of philosophy?

On the 100th anniversary of Weber’s death, Hans-Peter Müller sets out on a search for the message of this exceptional sociologist and finds that his genealogy of modernity lets us understand how we became what we are and why the problems of capitalism, of democracy and of the individual that Weber described still apply to us today. In other words: If you read Weber, you will get a better understanding of your life in modernity.

»This ›search for traces‹ shines with scientific esprit and puts forward a surprisingly elegant presentation for a sociological text book that holds a few metaphors that are unusual in this genre for the reader’s pleasure.« Harald Loch, neues deutschland

»Those who shy away from ploughing through the roughly 30.000 pages with great studiousness, which would undoubtedly be worthwhile, will be well served by Hans-Peter Müller’s book. The major lines of Weber’s thought: in this volume they are carved out clearly and in a memorable way – and in a precise, expert language. A book that has plenty to offer for novices as well as for advanced students of Max Weber.« Günter Kaindlstorfer, SWR