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Instrumental and value rationality
The terms "Instrumental rationality" and "value rationality" refer to two types of action identified by sociologist Max Weber.
Instrumental rationality is a type of social action where the means are rationally chosen to efficiently achieve a specific end. Value rationality is social action driven by a conscious, unconditional belief in the value of the action itself, independent of its success or consequences.
The terms were introduced by sociologist Max Weber, who observed people attaching subjective meanings to their actions. Acts people treated as conditional means he labeled "instrumentally rational." Acts people treated as unconditional ends he labeled "value-rational."
Weber defined instrumental and value rationality in Economy and Society.
Social action, like all action, may be...: (1) instrumentally rational (zweckrational), that is, determined by expectations as to the behavior of objects in the environment and of other human beings; these expectations are used as "conditions" or "means" for the attainment of the actor's own rationally pursued and calculated ends;
(2) value-rational (wertrational), that is, determined by a conscious belief in the value for its own sake of some ethical, aesthetic, religious, or other form of behavior, independently of its prospects of success; ...
... the more the value to which action is oriented is elevated to the status of an absolute value, the more "irrational" in this [instrumental] sense the corresponding action is. For the more unconditionally the actor devotes himself to this value for its own sake, ... the less he is influenced by considerations of the [conditional] consequences of his action
Weber sometimes called instrumental means "calculation of material interests" or "everyday purposive conduct." He also called value-rational ends "ideal motives enjoined by religion or magic. Weber's distinction survives as the core of modern explanations of rational social action: instrumental means are often considered value-free conditionally-efficient tools, and value-rational ends are often considered fact-free unconditionally-legitimate rules.
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Instrumental and value rationality
The terms "Instrumental rationality" and "value rationality" refer to two types of action identified by sociologist Max Weber.
Instrumental rationality is a type of social action where the means are rationally chosen to efficiently achieve a specific end. Value rationality is social action driven by a conscious, unconditional belief in the value of the action itself, independent of its success or consequences.
The terms were introduced by sociologist Max Weber, who observed people attaching subjective meanings to their actions. Acts people treated as conditional means he labeled "instrumentally rational." Acts people treated as unconditional ends he labeled "value-rational."
Weber defined instrumental and value rationality in Economy and Society.
Social action, like all action, may be...: (1) instrumentally rational (zweckrational), that is, determined by expectations as to the behavior of objects in the environment and of other human beings; these expectations are used as "conditions" or "means" for the attainment of the actor's own rationally pursued and calculated ends;
(2) value-rational (wertrational), that is, determined by a conscious belief in the value for its own sake of some ethical, aesthetic, religious, or other form of behavior, independently of its prospects of success; ...
... the more the value to which action is oriented is elevated to the status of an absolute value, the more "irrational" in this [instrumental] sense the corresponding action is. For the more unconditionally the actor devotes himself to this value for its own sake, ... the less he is influenced by considerations of the [conditional] consequences of his action
Weber sometimes called instrumental means "calculation of material interests" or "everyday purposive conduct." He also called value-rational ends "ideal motives enjoined by religion or magic. Weber's distinction survives as the core of modern explanations of rational social action: instrumental means are often considered value-free conditionally-efficient tools, and value-rational ends are often considered fact-free unconditionally-legitimate rules.