Editing Max Weber (section)

===Methodological individualism===
{{Main|Methodological individualism}}

The principle of methodological individualism, which holds that social scientists should seek to understand collectivities solely as the result of individual people's actions, can be traced to Weber.{{sfnm|1a1=Heath|1y=2024|2a1=Ritzer|2y=2009|2p=31|3a1=Swedberg|3a2=Agevall|3y=2016|3pp=211–212}} The term "methodological individualism" was coined in 1908 by the Austrian-American economist [[Joseph Schumpeter]] as a way of referring to Weber's views on how to explain social phenomena.{{sfn|Heath|2024}} While his research interests placed a strong emphasis on interpreting [[economic history]], Weber's support of methodological individualism represented a break with the historical school and an agreement with the Austrian school's founder, Carl Menger, in the {{Lang|de|Methodenstreit}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Maclachlan|1y=2017|1pp=1163–1164|2a1=Callison|2y=2022|2p=276}} In the first chapter of ''[[Economy and Society]]'', he argued that only individuals "can be treated as agents in a course of subjectively understandable action".{{sfnm|1a1=Heath|1y=2024|2a1=Ritzer|2y=2009|2p=31|3a1=Swedberg|3a2=Agevall|3y=2016|3pp=211–212}} Despite the term's usage of "individualism", Weber did not interpret the individual as being the true source for sociological explanations. Instead, while only individuals could engage in intentional action, they were not necessarily separate from the collective group.{{sfnm|1a1=Swedberg|1a2=Agevall|1y=2016|1pp=211–212|2a1=Heath|2y=2024}} He interpreted methodological individualism as having had close proximity to {{Lang|de|verstehende}} ("interpretive") sociology, as actions could be interpreted subjectively. Similarly, it was also related to ideal types in that it involved discussions of abstract and rational models of human behaviour.{{sfnm|1a1=Heath|1y=2024|2a1=Swedberg|2a2=Agevall|2y=2016|2p=211}}