The Misinterpretation of Max Weber's Study on Hinduism and Buddhism in India: Causes and Consequences

Four reasons why Max Weber's studies on Hinduism & Buddhism (Hinduismus und Buddhismus. Gesammelte Aufsatze zur Religionssoziologie, Band II [Hinduism and Buddhism. Collected Essays on the Sociology of Religion, Vol. II], Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1921) have been misinterpreted in India are discussed: (1) Weber's essays on the sociology of religion have generally been misunderstood in India because their context is little known there. (2) The only available English translation, by Hans H. Gerth & Don Martindale (Glencoe: Free Press, 1958), has a number of shortcomings. (3) Weber's contrast analysis of socioreligious configurations of world cultures has been remolded to fit the concepts of Talcott Parsons. (4) Social scientists in South Asia are alienated from their own cultural milieu; a "modern" interpretation of Weber helps them legitimize their own relatively affluent position. 22 References. Modified HA