Bio: (1863-1941) German economic historian. Werner Sombart received his doctorate in history from the University of Berlin and taught at the universities of Wrocław and Berlin. Together with Max Weber, Sombart was the editor of the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik (Archive for Social Sciences and Social Policy), the most influential social science journal in Germany at the time. Sombart is best known for his study of the historical development of capitalism, and he also dealt with issues of epistemology and methodology, races, Marxism and socialism, as well as consumption.

Sombart's approach to economics, history, and sociology was influenced by the historical school of economics, especially Gustav Schmoller, on the one hand, and Marxism and other socialist teachings, on the other. However, unlike the supporters of the historical school, he believed that it was possible to develop generalizing theories about the social system, by studying its historical development. He differed from Marx's approach in that he emphasized the importance of social superstructure (unlike Marx, who gave priority to the economic structure). Sombart developed his own epistemological and methodological approach to the social sciences which he called "noological sociology." This sociology sees the whole society as a spirit (Geist), and the field of study is the forms and cycles of civilizations. Emerging social phenomena must be studied in their historical and institutional context. He believed that it was possible to study social phenomena from a value-neutral standpoint. Sombart differentiates two opposing methods of scientific research: "objectivizing" (Begreifen) and "understanding" (verstehen). The first method is used by the natural sciences, and only partially, and with less success, can be applied to sociology and other social sciences. Understanding, as a method, is used to understand the meaning that, in subjective categories, behavior has for the actor. Every system of meaning has an organic character, and therefore an essential uniqueness.

Sombart was a great supporter of socialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and this is a topic he deals with in the books Socialism and the Social Movement in the 19th Century (2011, in German 1896) and Why is there no Socialism in the United States (1976, in German 1906). In the period between the publication of these two books, his most important book, Modern Capitalism (2019, in German 1902), was published, in which he explored the origins and nature of modern capitalism. He supplemented Marx's theory of the origin and development of capitalism with a socio-psychological and socio-cultural dimension. Sombart emphasizes the influence of religion, especially Judaism, on the development of capitalism, because the Jews were the first to engage in trade and borrowing money. Sombart believes that Jews practiced these occupations because of their racial origins. He views the Jews as a lower race and believes that they are characterized by the power of will, egoism, and abstract mentality. After the First World War, Sombart moved away from Marxism and began to propagate nationalist ideas, which caused him to draw a parallel between the English, a nation of merchants, and a German nation characterized by heroes, soldiers, and philosophers, ready to sacrifice for higher ideals. He used racial categories to explain the propensity of different populations for capitalism. Sombart introduces a distinction between two types of capitalists - entrepreneurs have fast intellect and good moral reasoning, and that is how the Germans contributed to the development of capitalism, while, on the other hand, there are merchants who are completely intellectually and emotionally subservient to money and profit, which is the characteristic of the Jews.

Sombart has made significant contributions to the study of consumption, especially luxury consumption. In the book Luxury and Capitalism (1912), he connects the growth of the consumer mentality with the emergence of court life, where the need for luxury goods was a means to achieve upward mobility and social ambitions. Luxury goods were not used to make life more comfortable, instead, those goods were used to show higher social status, in a situation when the rules of social stratification were not the clearest. After the Nazi Party came to power, he published the book German Socialism (1937, in German 1934), in which he completely rejected socialism, spoke about the "eternal German spirit" and fully accepted Nazi ideology.

Main works

Sozialismus und soziale Bewegung (1896);

Der Moderne Kapitalismus (1902);

Das Proletariat (1906);

Warum gibt es in den Vereinigten Staaten keinen Sozialismus? (1906);

Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben (1911);

Luxus and Capitalismus (1912);

Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des modernen Kapitalismus (1913a);

Krieg und Kapitalismus (1913b); 

Der Bourgeois (1913c);  

Händler und Helden (1915);

Deutscher Sozialismus (1934);

Vom Menschen (1938).

Works translated into English:

Socialism and the Social Movement in the 19th Century (1898, in German 1896);

Modern Capitalism (2019, in German 1902);

Why is there No Socialism in the United States (1976, in German 1906); 

The Jews and Modern Capitalism (2015, in German 1911);

Luxury and Capitalism (1922, in German 1912); 

The Quintessence of Capitalism: A Study of the History and Psychology of the Modern Business (2018, in German 1913a);

A New Social Philosophy (1937, in German 1934); 

Traders and Heroes: Patriotic Reflections (2021, in German 1915);

Economic Life in the Modern Age (2018).