The scientist and the politician through the eyes of Max Weber

"Politics as a vocation" and "Science as a vocation" by Max Weber are two famous lectures exported by him at the University of Munich in 1919. Subject of lectures are politics and science, considered as special fields of professional activity and personal vocation. In Politics as a Call, Max Weber examines the issue of the essence and functioning of the state, the emergence and development of the different types of political systems and the types of politicians they create. He stops at the qualities he sees politics as a "calling" [Beruf]. According to Max Weber, a professional politician can live "out of" politics and be a clerk, that meet the orders of the superiors, but the politician who lives “for“politics, the politician "by vocation" is a leader, a skillful demagogue, a strong personality. He must live for his work, be full of passion, but also bear responsibility and never lose sight of the distance, the sober look of reality.

He should not be subject to vainglory and self-love, nor be easily disappointed by failures. The "call" policymaker is a person who can optimally orient himself in reality and cope with his tasks. In the lecture, Max Weber approaches the notion of "politics" and specifies that this is a broad concept and covers all types of self-directed activity - for example, monetary policy of banks, discount policy, accounting policy of an enterprise, school policy, of a woman who wants to guide her husband. Under the policy of the lecture, however, it will be understood only "the leadership and the influence on the leadership of a political union, in the present sense of a country". Weber also gives another definition of politics - "seeking to take part in power or to divide its distribution either between states or between groups of people within the state that encompasses them." This definition is based on the fact that the state is considered the sole source of "right" violence. If the violence was not a means of the state, then the notion of "state" would not exist and a state similar to anarchy could occur.Power, on the other hand, is something that anyone who is involved in politics strives - as a means of achieving other goals or for the sake of power itself. Consciousness of influencing people, taking part in the power over them, and above all the feeling of "making history" is capable of raising politics above the level of everyday life. In the lecture, Weber highlights the notion of "professional politicians". They are people who do not want to be masters themselves, but come to work with political masters. They are thus placed at the disposal of the rulers, making their policy pursued in their material livelihood on the one hand and in the ideal sense of life on the other. In the past, these politicians were the most important tool of power. There are two ways a person can turn politics into their profession. You have to live "for" politics or "from" politics, one does not rule out the other, even one often does the two things simultaneously - "the one who lives for politics lives in a profound sense and from it he enjoys the naked possession of the power that he exercises or nourishes his inner equilibrium and self-esteem with the consciousness that by serving a "deed," he gives meaning to his life. "" From politics as a profession lives one who seeks to transform it a direct source of income. To live "for" politics must be economically independent of the incomes that politics can bring, ie. you have to be in a position that brings you enough revenue. After the establishment of democracy, the demagogue is the typical Western politician. The modern demagogue often serves his speech, especially when he has to speak speeches. According to Weber, "the political journalist and above all the journalist is the most important present agent of this kind of demagogue." Every politician needs the influence of the press and needs press relations. Thus, the journalistic field remains one of the most important forms of professional political activity. Three qualities are of the utmost importance for politics to be chosen as a vocation - passion, sense of responsibility, "faithful gaze". Passion - in the sense of affection for the cause, responsibility - in order for this case to become a "path star of action" and "faithful gaze" - the ability with calmness and balance to let the reality affect you. Territory, on the other hand, is the quality that a politician should strive to overcome. It is self-love, a constant striving for glory and emphasizing our own merits. The need to show yourself as politically tempting as you can, and he may be alienated from the case. At the end of his lecture, Weber gives the exact definition of whoever has the vocation to be a politician - "Only the one who is confident that he will not break if, from his point of view, the world turns out to be too stupid or too sneaky for what he wants to offer him; the one who would still say: "Yet!" - only he has the "calling" of a politician. "

The lecture "Science as a vocation" starts with the examination of the "material side" of the science and the organization of the academic activity. Weber compares the situation of the beginner scientist in Germany, where the scientific career begins with a dissertation and a non-salaried job (as a salaried) in the US, where she starts with a permanent (assistant) position without a dissertation and a significant teaching workload. Competition for a place in the academic world is amplified by relatively limited teaching needs, hence the question of whether any capable and learned scientist can in principle be habilitated or habilitation restricted. Weber makes a difference between a scientist and a lecturer - "someone can be a highly prominent scholar and a nasty disgraceful teacher." When an assistant professes to be a bad lecturer, this is equivalent to an "academic death sentence", whether he is the world's first scientist. Weber, however, disagrees with the criterion of determining whether an associate professor is a good teacher. In response to this question is given the attendance with which the students concede the doctrine. According to him, "exposing the scientific problems in such a way that they are untrained but able to perceive a person to be able to understand them, so that he (and this is mainly for us) reaches self-thinking over them - is probably the most difficult of all pedagogical tasks. " It is not important how many people listen to the lecture, but how much they understand and understand. In order for a person to achieve something valuable, he must have an idea of it. But in order to have some scientific insights, it depends on the fate that is hidden to us, and also on the "talent". Weber also distinguishes between scientific work and art. Scientific work is harnessed in the progress of progress, whereas in the art there is no progress in this sense. The fact that a work is made with newer technical means does not mean that it sits higher than another work that lacks knowledge of these means and laws. A work of art that is really successful can not be overcome and not aging. One can personally, personally, consider differently the significance of the two works, but no one can say about a work that has achieved success in artistic terms that it is "overtaken" by another, also successful work. In contrast, in science everyone knows that what worked has become aging after some time. Weber's lecture ends with sobering calling to satisfy the "requirements of the day" by exercising our profession. Before that, everyone must "find the demon that holds the threads of his life, and obey him."

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