Max Weber's Functional View Of Religion

Max Weber had much to say about the organization of capitalism and the disparity of the system, but unlike others, Weber also paid a lot of attention to the traditional, non-monetary incentives underlying social action. Weber wrote extensively about religion, though both he and Durkheim had a functional perspective on religion. Weber was more concerned with the functional perspective of religion while Durkheim focused particularly on how social order was possible within a religious context. Weber’s idea of the iron cage was significant as he believed that society was no longer driven by non- physical conception, such as religious values but instead by economic interests. He believed that work shouldn’t be just our occupation and inclination;

“Furthermore the puritans believed that fate decreed that the cloak should become an iron cage” (lecture November 6, 2013)[Footnote]. He further stated these ideal were that material goods have gained an increasing and ultimately an unavoidable power. The material goods has contributed to keeping us trapped in this iron cage, and for many individuals it has become the rational choice to stay there, rather than to follow the values of religion. Weber would conclude that within our society today, we have given the attitude of involved reasonableness which pervades so many aspects of our lives and of our culture as a whole; creating an iron cage of economic and technological determinism as Weber believed. If we make decisions based on calculations and logical assessment of the opportunities and alternatives instead of making our decisions based on based upon religious doctrine, who principles are now seen as an irrational for of functioning society then go against the ideas of Weber’s iron

(Lecture, October 9, 2013)[Footnote]. Although societal anomie produces conditions that increase suicide and the individual’s detachment from society. Durkheim argues, that societal crises can have a socially unifying effect too. It is the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community. Anomie and the concept of the iron cage and anomie are both process which mark the isolation and ultimate alienation of individual from society. While both Weber and Durkheim conceptualized different aspects of major societal problems, it is clearly that they both tried to answer these problems and ways in which we may begin to solve the problems if we heed their personal