Weber

In Max Weber’s articles on class he looks at the social structures and their relation to class. He discusses the difference between class and status. He also looked at what makes someone a member of a certain class. He looks at social order and common interests and how these relate to the class in which one associates with. Similarities are found when looking at different conditions and the classes that have comparable issues. In Basic Concepts of Sociology, he is looking to give definition to the unknown in sociology. He looks at meaning and understanding and explains it so others are able to see what it is like to look at someone else’s life, and understand what they are going through.

Without Something that I found interesting was the catergory of understanding. While reading it, I was thinking how things like “without reference to this meaning such an object remains wholly non-understandable” or the fact that there are different kinds of understanding is not something that you think about. Most things we just explain to people, this really made me think about my actions. So often we just assume that the people we are associating with understand what we are communicating with them. This is probably because we have identifiable traits that we share, but this is something that is often taken for granted.

I related this idea to a situation that I was once in. In 2006, I spent seven months living in Honduras. Communication and understanding was very difficult for me because I do not speak fluent Spanish. Therefore, I did not understand the language and I was in a foreign culture. I was on a military base, so there were many people who were in my same situation. In order for the Americans to form a bond with the Hondurans, one night a week they would open one of the dance clubs on base up to both. On that night, everyone would get together for a night of drinking and dancing. This allowed us to find something to relate to. Its interesting how in all situations, people look to one another to find relatable topics.