Читать книгу Essential Concepts in Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 37

To act in a rational way means to act reasonably and to think through the action and its consequences before performing it. The philosophical doctrine known as rationalism, which originated in the seventeenth century, contrasted knowledge based on reason and reasoning with that rooted in religious sources and received wisdom. Clearly, rationality has its origins in the connection between thinking and doing and the production of knowledge. In sociology, the theory of rationalization in society at large refers to a process rather than a fixed state of things and is central to the work of Max Weber. For Weber, rationalization and the elimination of magic was a long-term, world-historical social process that underpins any realistic understanding of the distinctiveness of the period of modernity. In more recent studies, debates have focused on whether the rationalization process has stalled as religious and spiritual beliefs appear to have risen to prominence again, or whether the process continues, albeit in new forms.