Ideal Type

The Ideal Type is known as one of the best contributions of Weber in the whole contemporary sociology. The Ideal Types have a very important role in the methodology. Weber believed that it was the responsibility of every sociologist to develop these kinds of conceptual tools in sociology. The most important tool among all the tools is the Ideal Type. 

According to Weber, the Ideal Type is a model, and it means a mental image or an origin, as it is not any material object. In the Ideal Type, the term typically refers to any class, type, or group. So, in general terms Ideal Type is a class of any person that shows the specific character of that individual.

Characteristics of Ideal Type

1. The ideal is not clearly defined by any feature that is common to all the objects of study. It is not general.
2. Ideal types do not reflect the complete reality and they exhibit partial outset of the whole.
3. It is neither too specific nor too general.
4. It’s neither a hypothesis nor any definite description of reality.
5. It is useful when there is a need to reach any general propositions or any comparative analysis.
6. It is helpful in the empirical type of research and this research is useful in the systematisation of the data based on historical reality.

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Variety of Ideal Types

1. Historical ideal type – The historical ideal type is related to the realities that have been seen or found in history. The modern capitalist market is one example of a historical ideal type.
2. General Sociological ideal types – This is related to the phenomena that have been cut across so many sociological-related phenomena. Bureaucracy is one of the examples of the general sociological form of ideal type.
3. Structural Ideal Type – These are taken from the history of the causes and consequences of the social action that happened in history. Traditional domination is the best-suited example of the structural form of ideal types.
4. Action Ideal Types – this purely arrived from the pure form of action that is based on the motivation of the actor. Effectual action is an example of an active form of ideal types.

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Ideal Types according to Weber

It is a kind of abstract model which is created by Max Weber and it is useful in the standard comparison which enables the person to look at the original aspect of the real world more clearly and in a more systematic way. It is a constructed ideal used to approximate reality by selecting and accentuating certain elements. This is commonly arranged or constructed as a one-sided point of view.

These are generally based on the social happenings of history that are discovered by various social scientists. In the theoretical sense, these mental constructs cannot be found in reality sometimes. The ideal type is formed based on the interest and theoretical orientation of the people to capture the important points of the social phenomena.

This ideal type is considered one of the most important works of Weber in history because it reflects all the logical assumptions in Weberian thoughts. According to Weber, any clear value commitment is both inevitable and necessary, it does not matter how subjective it is. It is unavoidable as no other important knowledge can be obtained if we keep on avoiding things.

Conclusion

Max Weber (1864-1920) is one of the renowned and most influential thinkers of that time in political science and sociology. He played a very important role in shaping the academic discourse on state, legitimacy, and authority. He was known as the founding father of the social sciences. He has discovered various theories and ideas that help us in understanding society.

The ideal type is one of the most important contributions given by Weber in his working years and also this methodology is very useful in sociology. It helps the people to look at the various perspectives so that it could broaden their way of thinking. There are different types of varieties in the ideal types like structural, historical, general sociological, and action ideological. When Weber used the term “ideal” he meant to express his feelings to the world of ideas. Ideal types are used as an important tool when one needs to look at a comparative study and analyze social and economic phenomena.