Max Weber's Postulate of 'Freedom' from Value Judgments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2201884 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fred H Blum (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1944 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 46-52 |
| Publication date | 1944-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/219498 |
| OpenAlex | W2065640253 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Max Weber considered that modern science was seeking to free itself from value judgments. Although social science could demonstrate the means to be used to attain given ends, nothing in social science could tell which ends sould be chosen. This must be an individual judgment. A social science free from value judgements does not eliminate the problem of values; it makes them a part of scientific consideration. Weber's postulate of "freedom from value judgments" is not to be identified with mere relativism in the field of values. Weber points out that, where human affairs are concerned, there can never be an objectivity in the sense of neutrality-even for a scientist
Epistemology · Neutrality · Nothing · Objectivity (philosophy · Relativism · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Mathematics · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
| Citations per year | 0.07 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1971 - 2025 (55) |
| Highly cited | No |