Principi di una sociologia della cultura

The essay represents one of the first attempt of Alfred Weber to formulate organically the theoretical basis of his cultural sociology. The article was written on the eve of the Weimar Republic, in a phase of tumultuous political life and of perceived cultural crisis. If like other German intellectuals of this age Weber shared the idea that the cultural crisis was chiefly due to the increasing intellectualization and rationalization of the modern society, however he never adopted a dichotomous understanding of this process in terms of civilization versus culture.