Abstract

The general area of this essay is an issue left unexplored by the tradition of commentary on Rickert's philosophy and Weber's methodology: the question of the relationship between Rickert's value theory and the validity of Weber's methodological positions. Within this area, the essay focuses on the question of the relationship between Rickert's analysis of the problem of the objectivity of values and Weber's conception of the objectivity of the cultural sciences. The thesis defended is that a solution to Weber's problem of the objectivity of the cultural sciences depends upon Rickert's doctrine of the objectivity of values. In this sense, Rickert's position on the objectivity of values is essential to the validity of Weber's methodology