We must, in other words, work out in the course of the discussion, as its most important result, the best conceptual formulation of what we here understand by the spirit of capitalism, that is the best from the point of view which interests us here. Here, Weber is explaining why, since we look for evidence of the spirit of capitalism in history, we cannot simply pull a definition of it out of thin air. Some ideal-types are abstract (like bureaucracies) whereas others are derived from actual historical events. Here Weber is laying the groundwork for developing an ideal-type of the “spirit of capitalism.” Recall from Weber’s Pro file page that ideal-types are analytical constructs, sort of like measuring sticks, which can be used to understand concrete empirical cases. Thus the final and definitive concept cannot stand at the beginning of the investigation, but must come at the end.
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