Weber's Critical Evaluation of Tarde: An Assessment

Abstract

This article presents and discusses Weber's critical evaluation of Tarde's notion of imitation. While Weber does not object to the potential sociological relevance of this notion, he finds it ill-defined and difficult to investigate. He does not concur, moreover, with Tarde's fundamental thesis that all social action rests on imitation. A textual examination of Tarde's writings indicate that — aside from the notion of imitation, on which Tarde has laid exclusive focus - there are several points of agreement between Weber and Tarde. However, Tarde has preferred merely to mention these points, rather than investigating them, as Weber has done in his sociological writings. This may open the way to further investigation of common ground and differences between the two authors.