Hukum dan Rasionalitas dalam Perspektif Max Weber

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between law and rationality from the perspective of Max Weber, positioning law as an integral component of the broader process of rationalization that characterizes modern society. Weber argues that the development of law cannot be separated from the social, economic, and political transformations that have fostered increasingly rational and bureaucratic forms of authority. Through a sociological approach to law, Weber distinguishes various types of legal rationality, ranging from formal law to substantive law, and demonstrates how modern legal systems derive legitimacy from rules that are impersonal, consistent, and predictable. The article further explores the interconnection between legal rationality and the development of the modern state, capitalism, and bureaucracy as the principal institutions of modern society. Employing a library research method, this study concludes that, in Weber's perspective, law functions not merely as an instrument of social control but also as a manifestation of rationality that enables the establishment of order, legal certainty, and legitimacy within modern social life.