The concept of the State
The state can be defined as a political institution that aims to organize life in society through laws, and if we take into account that the state must attempt to make individual behaviour mutually compatible it appears that the political purpose of the state is justice. It can also be defined as an entity relying on coercion and the threat of force to rule. But the concept of the state changes through history as well as its construction, which explains the difficulty of defining it in a fully satisfactory manner. Consequently there are a variety of definitions the concept of State.
In his essay Politics as a Vocation (1919), Weber starts by explaining the larger concept of politics and then focuses on the definition of the state. His opinion about how a state should rule reflects the contractarian view of the state of nature and the idea of the social contract. Basically, Weber explains that " If no social institutions …show more content…
His main point is that the politician needs to harmonize an “Ethic of Moral Conviction,” with an “Ethic of Responsibility.” The Ethic of Moral Conviction refers to the inflexible convictions and beliefs that a politician must hold. The Ethic of Responsibility refers to the everyday need to adopt means of the state’s violence in a fashion which preserves the peace for the greater good. A politician, Weber writes, must make compromises between these two ethics. This explains why at the end of this essay Weber writes "Politics is made with the head, not with the other parts of body, nor the soul". This is a task, that he believes not all humans can undertake. A criticism that can be made is that Weber is an idealist and expects too much for a perfect politician to be. However, he can be seen as one of the first to define a true democratic version of politics separating religion from the political
The state can be defined as a political institution that aims to organize life in society through laws, and if we take into account that the state must attempt to make individual behaviour mutually compatible it appears that the political purpose of the state is justice. It can also be defined as an entity relying on coercion and the threat of force to rule. But the concept of the state changes through history as well as its construction, which explains the difficulty of defining it in a fully satisfactory manner. Consequently there are a variety of definitions the concept of State.
In his essay Politics as a Vocation (1919), Weber starts by explaining the larger concept of politics and then focuses on the definition of the state. His opinion about how a state should rule reflects the contractarian view of the state of nature and the idea of the social contract. Basically, Weber explains that " If no social institutions …show more content…
His main point is that the politician needs to harmonize an “Ethic of Moral Conviction,” with an “Ethic of Responsibility.” The Ethic of Moral Conviction refers to the inflexible convictions and beliefs that a politician must hold. The Ethic of Responsibility refers to the everyday need to adopt means of the state’s violence in a fashion which preserves the peace for the greater good. A politician, Weber writes, must make compromises between these two ethics. This explains why at the end of this essay Weber writes "Politics is made with the head, not with the other parts of body, nor the soul". This is a task, that he believes not all humans can undertake. A criticism that can be made is that Weber is an idealist and expects too much for a perfect politician to be. However, he can be seen as one of the first to define a true democratic version of politics separating religion from the political