Generally Intended Meaning, the 'Average' Actor, and Max Weber's Interpretive Sociology

Abstract

Max Weber's concept of the 'subjectively intended meaning' of social action is often taken to refer to that meaning in terms of which a real, 'concrete' individual understands his or her own action. Weber's interpretive sociology, however, was typological. The actor to whom Weber referred in his sociological work was almost always an ideal type, usually the 'average' member of a sociologically significant social stratum. The subjective meaning of the action Weber assigned when constructing such an ideal type was the 'generally intended meaning' the action typically has for members of such strata. By examining Weber's methodological and substantive writings, particularly 'Basic Sociological Concepts', some implications of his typological approach for understanding his concept of subjective meaning, of the individual actor, and of interpretive sociology are discussed, including a critique of the view that Weber was a methodological individualist.