Max Weber Classical and contemporary sociological theory

In his writings, Max Weber describes the motivations or mental states that influence people's social behavior. The four categories of activity that Weber identified are emotive, instrumental-rational, traditional, and value-rational (Appelrouth & Edles, 2008). When an individual is overcome by emotions, affective acts frequently occur in order to communicate one's sentiments. A decision to take an instrumental-rational action is made after weighing the pros and cons of the various approaches that could be utilized to achieve it. A choice is described by the activities that have been done as a tradition in a family or the community as a whole using the traditional social activity. Value-rational entails the actions that are taken for they end in a valued objective, but there is no assessment of the outcomes and no contemplation of the suitability of the ways used.



In the case of James and Anthony



James actions of working hard and completing his assignment in time can be classified as instrumental-rational. James works hard and attends all classes without failure with a mind of the achievements he will attain at the end. Anthony's action of copying James' work portrays a value-rational in that he wants to get whatever grade but he does not contemplate the consequences of his actions and the means used to attain the grade. James expresses his disappointment by breaking down and crying; thus affective action is demonstrated. The traditional social action is presented by both James and Antony when they promise the teacher they will never repeat the mistake again. It is a tradition of students to repeat some actions even after promising not to do them again.



Apart from the legal authority, Weber has also outlined other types of legitimate domination which are traditional authority and charismatic authority. Traditional authority entails the acceptance of traditional rights that are set by an official and governing person or a group, and the rights are not challenged by the minor persons. The traditional authority takes different forms which are tribal, clan or family structures, religious or spiritual forms, or well recognized and slowly varying culture. This governing person in this type of authority may be a family head, a priest, clan leader, or another headman (Edles & Appelrouth, 2013). Gerontocracy and patriarchalism are the types of traditional authority, the latter being the most important form in which legitimacy responses upon tradition. Other forms of traditional authority are patrimonialism, a more modern form, and feudalism that are considered to be significant in the historical times. According to Weber, traditional authority is a way of which there are formation and conservation of inequity, and it prevents improvement of legal forms of authority.



Charismatic authority



Charismatic authority involves an individual, who has possession of extraordinary or supernatural features that makes him a leader. The leader has the power of charisma, which makes his followers have great trust and faith which is unbreakable. The authority wholly depends on the relationship between the exceptional leader and his followers. Charismatic authority is characterized by the following: leaders must lead in a way that benefits the followers, followers worship the leaders heroically or spiritually, and the followers must listen and act as the leader say so as to appease them. Charisma is only valid during the lifespan of the leader; it dissolves when the charismatic leader leaves or dies (Edles & Appelrouth, 2013).



References



Appelrouth, S., & Edles, L.D. (2008). Classical and contemporary sociological theory: Text and readings. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.



Edles, L.D., & Appelrouth, S. (Eds.) (2013). Sociological theory in the classical era: Text and readings. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

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