世纪之交的方法论之争与马克斯·韦伯的调适策略

The Dispute of Methodology at the Turn of the Century and Max Weber’s Adaptation Strategy

启蒙运动之后,对人本身的强烈兴趣与科学方法的结合,使诸多社会科学把注意力基本上转向自然科学,从而促成了社会科学研究中实证主义的崛起。实证主义强调意义世界的实证化、突出主体的化约性和人格的同质性。在对实证主义观点的回应中,人文主义强调人文科学必须转向人的生活、人的生命体验及生命历程,突出研究对象的独特性和研究取向的价值关联性,但人文主义在批评实证主义的缺陷的同时又走到了另一个极端。马克斯·韦伯通过建立新的社会学解释策略试图调和世纪之交的方法论之争并弥合二者之间的鸿沟,他找寻"中间道路"的方法论努力在其宏大思想体系中具有持久性意义。因此,不应该简单地将他划归于人文主义之列,否则就无法清晰地显现他的方法论真意。

After the Enlightenment, the combination of strong interest in human beings and scientific methods made many social sciences basically turn their attention to natural sciences, thus contributing to the rise of positivism in social sciences.Positivism emphasizes the positivism of meaning world, the simplification of subject and the homogeneity of personality.In response to positivism, humanism emphasize the need for humanities to turn to human life, human life experience and life course, highlighting the uniqueness of research objects and the value relevance of research orientation.However, while criticizing the defects of positivism, humanism goes to another extreme.By establishing a new sociological interpretation strategy, Max Weber tries to adjust the methodological debate at the turn of the century and bridge the gap between them.His efforts to find the"middle way"methodology are of lasting significance in his grand ideological system.Therefore, he should not be simply classified as a humanist, otherwise his methodological intentions will not be clearly displayed.