Planned Introduction to the Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Mit- und Nachschriften 1919–1920 in the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (Sections 1-6)

Abstract

Planned Introduction to the Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Mit- und Nachschriften 1919–1920 in the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (Sections 1-6) Bertram Schefold (bio) and Joachim Schröder Translated by M.S. Whimster Preliminary Note 2023: In 2005, the editors of the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe (MWG) commissioned me to edit Max Weber's Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte. However, when the preparatory work for it was essentially completed, they did not accept the draft of the introduction. Since then I have been asked for it several times and, subsequently, the Abriß had appeared as volume III/6 of the MWG (edited by Wolfgang Schluchter in collaboration with Joachim Schröder). I wish to thank the editors of the journal Zyklos for publishing it; also to thank the journal Max Weber Studies for their translation.1 Nothing has been changed in the text, apart from the correction of typing errors, but the notes have been brought up to date with the help of Mr. Joachim Schröder; also the references to Weber's works then unpublished in MWG have now been updated. Mr. Schröder also compiled a bibliography based on the information provided in the footnotes, which has now been added. I would like to thank Mr. Schröder for his renewed help. The orthography of the text was based on the rules in force at the time of the draft. The preface added at that time is included for general explanation and for the sake of acknowledgements; for the Editorial Report, reference can be made to MWG III/6. Foreword This volume of the Max Weber-Gesamtausgabe contains the Wirtschaftsgeschichte, subtitled Abriß der universalen Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte [End Page 141] (Outline of Universal Social and Economic History), as edited by Siegmund Hellmann and Melchior Palyi from the unpublished legacy of his writings (Nachlaß). Weber's notes from which he gave the lectures and the colleague's notes on which Hellmann and Palyi originally relied have been lost. But the text of 1923, with its glossary of explanations, is here accompanied by a lecture transcript in its entirety and excerpts from a second one, and these make it possible to check the fidelity to the spoken word to a certain extent by comparison with the book edition. The Editorial Report provides information on the handling of these sources and some of the results of the comparison. The Introduction seeks to present the significance of the Outline of Universal Social and Economic History (henceforwards: Economic History) for Weber's later work and, using his transcribed but not yet published lectures on theoretical economics (Nationalökonomie), deals in particular with Weber as an economist from a dogma-historical perspective. The Düsseldorf office of the MWG provided substantial support for the editing work. First and foremost, I would like to thank Mr. Joachim Schröder for his reliable help in preparing this edition; Ms. Isabel Hartmann prepared the extensive bibliography, Mr. Richard Kühl largely compiled the glossary and the list of persons. The deciphering of the handwritten passages of the transcripts were undertaken by external experts, Mr. Hans Gebhard and Mr. Horst and Mrs Sigrid Grimm. I would like to thank Mr. Rainer M. Lepsius and Mr. Wolfgang Schluchter for their knowledgeable advice and Ms. Edith Hanke for her support, not just in terms of editing. The introduction was largely drafted in 2007 during a summer stay at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris; I thank Mr. Hinnerk Bruhns for the invitation and for many conversations I had with him and his colleagues, especially Jean Andreau. One draft was presented in French at a meeting in Aixen-Provence in autumn 2007 (for which I am particularly grateful to Mr. Gilles Campagnolo and Mr. Pierre Livet) and a slightly different one in English at the meeting of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought in spring 2008; I thank Japanese colleagues Yuichi Shionoya and Kiichiro Yagi for their comments there. Among other interlocutors in Frankfurt, I would like to mention in particular Mr. Klaus Lichtblau and Mr. Helge Peukert. The thanks do not imply any transfer of joint responsibility; as always, the author must...