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What’s left? An analysis of Max Weber’s Science as Vocation

Abstract

By analysis of Max Weber’s Science as vocation, this work aims to understand if the intellectual premises of the Bildung ideal endure in the age of specialization. Instead of using the idea of universality, Weber insists that clarity might accomplish one of the functions of the Bildung: an alert against instrumentalization of knowledge and the concomitant foundation of its autonomy. In order to achieve this goal, the study detaches three questions which can be found in Weber’s own text, which deals with crucial issues, such as: specialization, progress and meaning of science in contemporary life.