Both Marx and Weber discuss about the prime idea that holds society together. However, these theorists do not share the same base of opinion on what primarily holds the foundation of society together. Marx in Marx-Engels Reader believes that material reality is the main concept that holds the society while Weber, as stated in Selected Translations, he believes every meaning of social action is an important element that brings society together. Weber also argues that the existence of an important charismatic figure in every society is also one of the main aspects that could bind society. Marx and Weber differences and views will be discuss and evaluate in this paper.
In Marx-Engels Reader, Marx argues that society is merely the product of material conditions that occur over time, which transforms a single individual to a complex society that we live in today. He said that "The first premise of all human history is, of course, the existence of living human individuals" (Marx, 149) and the causes of these human history to occur are due to "real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the imagination" (Marx 149). These premises that Marx established happens not only because of the existence of human beings but also happened because of human activities and its material circumstances "under which they live in, both those which they find already existing and those produced by their activity" (Marx, 149). Marx explains that it is in human nature that our means of life are to be link with material or physical organisation. Marx also claims that human beings are different from animals because human beings hold onto beliefs that are established within them in order for them to act out their actions such as consciousness, religion or moral values (Marx 150). Marx proclaims, "They (men) themselves begin to distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence, a step which is conditioned by their physical organisation.