Verstehen

The Understanding Sociology is a system developed by Max Weber in the early 20th century epistemological approach to sociology. The aim of sociology is thus, explaining to understand human action, ie, to understand the meaning of the context in which an action is. The understanding of motives for action (and thus the reasons for action ) allows insight into the meaningful relationships between sinnhaftem reason and sinnhaftem behavior. Weber used the term for this understanding both reasonable interpretation.

Such an interpretation is a causal hypothesis for him; the connection between reason and action is therefore thought to be a cause and effect. Nevertheless, this method of Weber of explaining the natural sciences can be distinguished: The results led to the understanding of contexts of meaning also includes in addition to the mere causal hypotheses of insight into the motives of the actors.

Besides Weber also his contemporary Georg Simmel has dealt with understanding as a method of social sciences. In the tradition of interpretive sociology is, among other things, founded by Alfred Schutz, phenomenological sociology. On Weber's sociological theory but also movements such as structural functionalism and rational choice theory have connected.