理性化既是一种行动分析理论，又是一种跨越了诸多社会领域的历史运动趋势。在韦伯的著述史中，“理性”或者说“理性化”的主题最早出现在早期对新教伦理的研究中，并且随着其后续对其他诸文明的宗教社会学考察而渐渐有了愈加丰富的历史内涵。在韦伯看来，新教伦理的真正历史价值，在于其独特的理性化过程在新教徒灵魂深处所烙下的伦理印记，通过对个体生活伦理的严格审视，以及经济理性化的现实要求，新教徒养成了一种面向现实世界的禁欲主义气质。在韦伯眼中，这种气质所塑造的务实、理性的行动风格为现代资本主义的兴起提供了强大的精神动力。在韦伯的政治社会学中，宗教社会学的这一理性化的分析脉络得到了延续。韦伯眼中的政治与宗教一样同时兼具着现实性与超越性的两个方面，政治的内在价值所呼唤的，是与新教徒一样能够始终在理想信念的引导下直面并力求超越现实的英雄伦理。然而，现代世界在技术和实质上的非理性，为肩负伦理信念的行动者提供的是一个远比新教徒时期更加混乱无序的历史舞台。韦伯希望一种理性负责的政治性格的养成能够帮助德国清除经济和政治上的反动要素，然而，晚年所提及的责任伦理与信念伦理却不能为这一问题的解决提供有效的指导，而只是反过来再次强调了使命之艰难与形势之严峻。从根本上讲，韦伯方法论立场中“事实”与“价值”的二分造就了他对一切带有乐观态度的历史观的谨慎疏离，韦伯否认理想可以仅依靠自身的内在价值就获得其现实中的必然性，同时也不认为终极价值之间的矛盾可以有调和的可能。正是从这一立场出发，韦伯才为责任伦理描绘了一幅悲观的现代世界画卷，并转而希望责任伦理可以仅依靠自身清醒的理性来保持前进的动力。韦伯方法论的核心深处隐藏着这一价值论的预设，也正是这一预设将理性化最终塑造成了一种充满难以解决的矛盾与张力的、颇具悲剧色彩的历史叙事。

Rationalization is both an action analysis theory and a historical movement trend that spans many social fields. In the history of Weber's writings, the theme of "rationality" or "rationalization" first appeared in the early research on Protestant ethics, and gradually gained richer meanings with his subsequent sociological examination of religions in other civilizations. historical connotation. In Weber's view, the real historical value of Protestant ethics lies in the ethical imprint left deep in the souls of Protestants by its unique rationalization process. Through strict examination of individual life ethics and the realistic requirements of economic rationalization, Protestants Developed an ascetic temperament facing the real world. In Weber's eyes, the pragmatic and rational action style shaped by this temperament provided a powerful spiritual impetus for the rise of modern capitalism. In Weber's political sociology, this rational analysis line of the sociology of religion was continued. In Weber's eyes, politics, like religion, has both aspects of reality and transcendence. What the intrinsic value of politics calls for is a heroic ethics that can always face and strive to transcend reality under the guidance of ideals and beliefs like the Protestants. . However, the technical and substantive irrationality of the modern world provides actors with ethical convictions with a historical stage that is far more chaotic and disordered than that of the Protestant period. Weber hoped that the cultivation of a rational and responsible political character could help Germany eliminate reactionary elements in the economy and politics. However, the ethics of responsibility and ethics mentioned in his later years could not provide effective guidance for solving this problem. It just in turn once again emphasized the difficulty of the mission and the severity of the situation. Fundamentally speaking, the dichotomy between "facts" and "values" in Weber's methodological stance resulted in his cautious alienation from all optimistic views of history. Weber denied that ideals could achieve their reality in reality by relying solely on their own intrinsic value. Inevitability, and at the same time, it does not think that the contradiction between ultimate values can be reconciled. It is from this standpoint that Weber painted a pessimistic picture of the modern world for the ethics of responsibility, and instead hoped that the ethics of responsibility could maintain its forward momentum by relying solely on its own sober rationality. This axiological presupposition is hidden deep in the core of Weber's methodology, and it is this presupposition that ultimately shapes rationalization into a tragic historical narrative full of intractable contradictions and tensions.