Editorial: Weber Past and Present

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Weber Past and PresentMax Weber was, among quite a few other things, the historical sociologist par excellence.As such, he belongs to the "patron saints" of this journal, and a special issue devoted to his work is overdue.The present collection of papers deals with different aspects of his legacy and reflects diverse lines of interpretation, but their common ground is an awareness of new problems and perspectives thrown up by the edition of Weber's complete works (Max-Weber-Gesamtausgabe).That landmark achievement (together with new and more adequate English translations of some key texts) has changed received notions about Weber's life and work and enriched our knowledge of both aspects, but also to some extent reactivated old questions in a much-altered context.The unity of the work has always been hard to grasp (alternative keys to that question will be discussed in the present issue), and this has sometimes tempted Weber scholars to look for clues in his very distinctive biography.But the unity of life and work is a dubious assumption that can lead to disastrous results; and in any case, biographical themes will not enter into the discussion to be pursued here.There is, however, a question that borders on biographical matters and demands some attention before confronting the labyrinthine paths of the work.It has to do with the definition of Weber's intellectual and cultural identity, its reflection in his self-definitions, and its place in a broader historical context.