Abstract

DE DONATO, Xavier. The Character of Weberian Ideal Types and Their Relation to Natural Sciences. Diánoia [online]. 2007, vol.52, n.59, pp.151-177. ISSN 0185-2450.

In the present paper, I examine the relation between the ideal concepts of natural sciences and the ideal types proposed by Max Weber as a specific part of the methodology in human sciences. I will present some difficulties in the accounts which have been proposed so far in this sense. My main thesis will be that in Weber's notion of "ideal type" there is indeed an element which makes it possible to establish an important comparison with the ideal concepts in natural sciences. Notwithstanding, the consequences drawn from this comparison are not sufficient for neglecting the methodological difference Weber ascribed to both kinds of sciences.

Keywords : ideal concepts; idealization; Max Weber's methodology; demarcation between natural and social sciences.

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