The Ontological Assumptions of Max Weber’s Methodology

All interpretation involves some form of induction. Passages and fragments of an author's writings are taken by an investigator, organized, and reassembled into a coherent and meaningful picture of the author's reality with the intent of illustrating some hitherto undiscovered motivation and/or intent. These inductive inferences may make a contribution to the store of human intellectual history, or they may serve as part of an investigator's original contribution to the realm of positive discourse or critique.