Subjectivity as a cultural form of social reality. On the philosophical- theoretical potential of Max Weber’s interpretation of modernity

Abstract

The paper shows the philosophical content of Max Weber’s contribution to a theory of modernity. Weber adopts the deepest questions of the classical philosophical tradition, adding important dimensions and differentiations to them. The specific nature of modern subjectivity is the achievement of a cultural becoming, and it is far more complex than all contemporary interpretations that consider the modern era to be at its end. — (I) Firstly, we will interpret the well-known (and influential) text The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus, 1904/05), with a special focus on its philosophical-theoretical thoughtelements. That which Weber refers to here philosophically as the “Spirit” of a way of life and of its social forms encompasses the whole of a cultural transformation: a fundamental change in the concept of action, in the conception of the acting subject, in the horizon of the space of action (“world”), and in the understanding of sociality. In this new structure of individuality, subjectivity is connected with “objectiveness” [Sachlichkeit], of all things. Notwithstanding, the essence of all of these fundamental changes cannot be characterized solely through (modern) rationality and rationalization, but is fixed on people equipped with a specific habitual ethos. — (II) In the second part, we aim to develop Weber’s idea further on a general level, from the point of view of present-day debates on subjectivity. To this end, we will discern four systematically decisive issues: (1) One component of modern subjectivity is the “inner” social relatedness; there is always an internal forum where the affiliation to a “we” is confirmed and acknowledged (or rejected). (2) Weber saw the significance of the psychologization of the self (and of others) — of the different cultural images, concepts and explanations of subjectivity. (3) From this perspective, subjectivity (both in thought and in practice) is essentially the history of its interpretations — a process of many legacies and their transformation. (4) Existing social forms are above all sedimented “Spirit”, in connection with impositions of participation and conformity (and of “formation” [Bildung]); the established social reality itself generates specific cultural profiles of subjectivity.