Weber's idea
In 'Science as a vocation' (1946), Weber said moderns believe no incalculable forces exist; the Protestant ethic (1930) rejected magical means of salvation.
Rationalisation and meaning
Schluchter (1981) placed it in Western rationalisation; science, law and bureaucracy increased calculability at the cost of meaning, feeding secularisation and McDonaldization debates.
Re-enchantment
Jenkins (2000) and Saler (2006) stress persisting enchantment; Taylor (2007) reinterpreted secularity; Josephson-Storm (2017) called disenchantment a myth.
FAQ
- What is it in simple terms?
- The shift from explaining the world by magic to believing everything can be calculated.
- Is it a good thing?
- It brought knowledge and control, but Weber warned of lost meaning.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Weber, M. (1930). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (T. Parsons, Trans.). Allen & Unwin. Historical context of rationalisation.
- Weber, M. (1946). Science as a vocation. In H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (Eds.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 129–156). Oxford University Press. The lecture where the concept is best known.
- Schluchter, W. (1981). The rise of Western rationalism: Max Weber's developmental history. University of California Press. Systematises Weber's rationalisation thesis.
- Jenkins, R. (2000). Disenchantment, enchantment and re-enchantment: Max Weber at the millennium. Max Weber Studies, 1(1), 11–32. Considers re-enchantment.
- Saler, M. (2006). Modernity and enchantment: A historiographic review. American Historical Review, 111(3), 692–716. A historiographic review.
- Taylor, C. (2007). A secular age. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. A philosophical extension.
- Josephson-Storm, J. Ä. (2017). The myth of disenchantment: Magic, modernity, and the birth of the human sciences. University of Chicago Press. A critique calling disenchantment a myth.