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German social theorist who developed many of the principles of the modern discipline of sociology; author of Sociology as Science (1897) and Methodology of the Social Sciences (1907) {at Amazon.com}. Weber argued for a strict separation between scientific objectivity and all judgments of value in Die “Objectivität” sozialwissenschaftlicher und sozialpolitischer Erkentniss (The “Objectivity” of Knowledge in Social Science and Social Policy) (1904).

Ultimately, Weber supposed, ethical and political commitments are properly embraced without any effort to supply their rational foundations. In Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) (1905) {at Amazon.com} Weber warned against the loss of individual freedom to the efficient but over-rationalized bureaucracy that arises in service of economic investment.

(Via Philosophy Pages)