Max Weber’s Theory of Law History and Political Views of Religion

Abstract

This manuscript is a revised and supplemented work that was published in the RSU (Riga Stradins University) scientific journal Socrates (Socrates 2022, 3 (24)) under the title “Legal Doctrine of Max Weber’s Sociology of Religion” and available at https://doi. org/10.25143/socr.24.20 22.3. The basic task remains the same – to study Max Weber’s school of the sociology of law. Belatedly, this work is dedicated to the prof. Max Weber’s (hereinafter – Weber) commemoration day of the centenary and is focused on understanding the sociological structure of the state and canon (religious) law. To better evaluate Weber’s most favored views on the economic ethics of religion, by comparison, and due to the interaction of the opposites and sets of viewpoints expressed in them, in this work, the discipline of human rights will also be analysed, which will closely identify Weber’s asceticism about the spirit of normative Protestantism and the ethics of capitalism. On the other hand, in a conventional discourse and a review of the theory of social stratification, through the so-called theory of degrees and directions of rejection, the essence of Weber’s idea is best understood by examining how religion influenced the formation of an approach to contemporary law, by comparing it not only with the constitutional system of Latvia but also with other countries and their respective constitutional framework and traditions, meanwhile, considering the view that by observing the peculiarities of the era of Weber’s lifetime, the work would have a more modern character. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to establish and identify the ideas expressed by Weber regarding the value scope of social classes, layers, and typology of religion, by analysing them – conventionally, but specifically – through the doctrine of lex nature. Additionally, the purpose of the present work is to define the general structure of Weber’s philosophical thoughts and views on law, to find and identify the asceticism of the sociology of religion, interspersed with the theory of conflict and domination. However, the relevance of the research is rooted in the fact that the methods of Weber’s scientific approach are used to analyse the state’s institutional and orderly system-theoretical dependence on the bureaucratized forms of public authority, where the justification for the structured actions of the legitimate state derives from strictly defined and authorized rules of orders and ordinances. Therefore, as the socio-legal aspect of religion, the constitutional experience of countries, including Latvia, is also analysed, but only comparatively, and accordingly, in the context of social and legal norms, the bipolarity of church and religious dogmatics is studied. The current relevance, argumentation, and question of equality of the separation of the state and the church are also evaluated. In this regard – from the point of view of the social philosophy of law developed by Weber – no other research has been carried out on the national scale in Latvia, making this work unique among the analysis of other legal scholars and sociologists. Wherever this study refers to purely legal dogmatic problems, the authors have relied on the literature on the history of the church and law and, to some extent, on the past of the dogmas formed by it. Furthermore, the authors primarily refer to the documentation obtained from Weber’s law sociological argumentation and controversial perspective, which clarifies the typology of the sociology of religion. To the possible extent, the authors also delve into the primary sources of the history of law, but due to their linguistically specific style of expression and peculiarities, per the objective to study Weber’s views on the socio-historical genesis of the state and canon law and their nature, which includes evaluation of sociological understanding of the law of the canon and religious norms, textual identification of primary sources is not examined in more detail, however, the most important ideas expressed in Weber’s works are explored and compared with those of other prominent representatives of this field. Therefore, the objective of the research is to select and analyse the common and different features expressed in the works of Weber and other authors, which would most clearly characterize the doctrinal views of Weber’s sociology of religion and law postulate, or, as Weber would say himself, to mark as specifically as possible that part of the norms of the “manifesto of rights” which most typically applies to the masses of society, as opposed to the legal consciousness of the individual. Consequently, the place and role of the church and religion in the cognitive process of the state, society, and individual would be “fixed”. In addition, another objective of the article, among others, is to illustrate, using the methods of sociological research, the most significant pillars of the ideas of the history of law and the colourful nature of the brightest ideas of the world cultural heritage, and doing this by observing the most visible and vivid views in Weber’s works and analysing them in the cross-section of legal forms by using the critical thinking, which is characteristic of the present era. However, in the part of the normative analysis of the law codification, the authors focus on the analysis of the social environment of law and church law instead of their general perspective; thus, the work is mainly based on the ideas of the outstanding sociologist Weber and theses of his concepts, boldly preserving the style of the thought revealed in Weber’s main text and means of expression. For those who are familiar with the most important works of canon law, including church law, the part of the material analysis of the norms could be new precisely from the point of view of this work and the specifics of the analysis included, namely, this legal discipline is examined through Weber’s studies, works of other researchers and novelties about law, as well as the place of sociology of religion found in these works.