The Weberian Therapy for Modernity

Abstract

This article defends the idea that Weber developed, in his work, a therapy
for modernity in the sense that he postulated an alternative to the loss of
meaning of individual conduct within the “iron prison”. Based on the weberian
use of “ideal types”, the author concentrates his argument around two new figures:
the “specialist-with-spirit” and the “man of-pleasure-with-heart”, whose
mission is the salvation of inauthentic routines. United as to their objective, these
two figures diverge with respect to the means employed to attain it, acting,
respectively, in the esthetic and the erotic spheres, and are exemplified by the
artist and the lover.