Maximilian Karl Emil "Max '' Weber (/ ˈveɪbər /; German: (ˈmaks ˈveːbɐ); 21 April 1864 -- 14 June 1920) was a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and political economist. His ideas profoundly influenced social theory and social research. Weber is often cited, with Émile Durkheim and Karl Marx, as among the three founders of sociology. Weber was a key proponent of methodological antipositivism, arguing for the study of social action through interpretive (rather than purely empiricist) means, based on understanding the purpose and meaning that individuals attach to their own actions. Unlike Durkheim, he did not believe in monocausality and rather proposed that for any outcome there can be multiple causes.
who said sociology is the science which attempts interpretive understanding of social action
Maximilian Karl Emil "Max '' Weber