Disenchantment of the world
The disenchantment of the world is a concept cited by the economist and sociologist Max Weber in his later published lecture Science as a Profession from 1917, with which he summarizes the development that results from the intellectualization and rationalization that comes with the development of science goes hand in hand, but already begins in Judaism, especially with the Old Testament prophets.
In science as a profession , Weber says:
“The increasing intellectualization and rationalization does not mean an increasing general knowledge of the living conditions under which one stands. Rather, it means something else: the knowledge of it or the belief in it: that one could experience it at any time if one only wanted, that there are in principle no mysterious, unpredictable powers that play a role, that one rather all things - in principle - can master by calculating. But that means: the disenchantment of the world . Unlike the savage , for whom such powers existed, one no longer has to resort to magical means in order to control or request the spirits. But technical means and calculation do it. This means above all the intellectualization as such. "
Friedrich Schiller poetically described a similar development in his poem The Gods of Greece , in which he describes “nature deodified”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus L. Berghahn (ed.): Schiller's poems. Athenaeum, Königstein / Taunus 1980, ISBN 3-7610-8084-0 , p. 149.
- ↑ Hartmut Lehmann: The disenchantment of the world. Studies on topics by Max Weber. Wallstein, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8353-0456-7 , p. 13 ( online; PDF; 126 kB ( memento of April 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )).
literature
- Hartmut Lehmann: The disenchantment of the world. Studies on topics by Max Weber. Wallstein, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8353-0456-7
- Hans Joas, The Power of the Holy. An alternative to the story of the disenchantment . Frankfurt / M. 2017