Weber una vez más

Abstract

Face to an unusual resurgence of types and typologies in contemporary sociological research, this article offers a review of some of Weber's methodological approaches. It emphasizes his proposal of ideal types, considered as a specific modality of the typifying process. It underlines that ideal types refer to theoretical-conceptual models with a certain degree of abstraction. It also underlines that ideal types denote that which is conceptual, logical, and that they are referred to an epistemic framework. Once and again all along his work, but, most of all, in the latest stage of it, Weber gives ideal types the name of pure types. All of those elements prevent us from thinking of them as mere technical resources.