Science as a Vocation

Science as a profession is an essay by the sociologist and economist Max Weber. It is based on a lecture given by Max Weber on November 7, 1917 as part of a free Student from the "Bund. Bavarian Association " organized the lecture series" Mental work as a profession " has kept the art in the Munich bookstore Steinicke. After Weber had done on the Lauensteiner cultural conferences as a speaker who could inspire young people and there were thematic contact points, it lent itself to this lecture topic. Furthermore him but the issue was also "be in the heart ." The expanded text of this paper was published in July 1919.

Content

First Weber takes in his lecture comments on the advantages and disadvantages of a science career. He compares the German and the American university system, the chances of promotion of teachers and their content, emphasizes the factor of chance, which plays a non-negligible size for the career of each scientist. He also goes on the ratio of the scientist as an individual towards science in general a, what requirements should bring this. One must be able to live for and by science.

He represents here the position that a scientific performance can only be achieved through specialization:

" Only by strict specialization of scientific workers can actually feel full, once and perhaps never again in life, make it their own. Here I have achieved something, which will take "

He also deals with the question of the " value of science." Although science had to get the hand tool (methods) to new insights and positions, why these are worth it to be represented, but you can not derive directly. This refers to the inner circle of the natural sciences as opposed to ethics and philosophy; latter of the investigation must be dedicated to the value question.

No science is free of assumptions, and the value of science is lost as soon as their assumptions are rejected.

" All science give us answer to the question: What should we do if we want to master life technically? Whether we are but technically mastered it and want, and whether ultimately actually makes sense: - they can completely undecided or put it ahead for their own purposes. "

The question of the meaning of life can so if at all, can not be resolved by science alone.

In the last sections Weber emphasizes that one should not wear in the auditorium " policy ".

" In the lecture hall, where one is sitting across his listeners, they have to remain silent and to talk to the teacher, and I think it is irresponsible to this circumstance that the students about their advancement sake must visit the college a teacher, and that there is no one present that this confronts criticism to exploit to the listeners not know how it is his job to be useful with his knowledge and scientific experience, but to stamp it after his personal political views. "