The Rejection and the Meaning of the World

The Rejection and the Meaning of the World, known also as World Rejection and Theodicy (Stufen und Richtungen der religiösen Weltablehnung), is a 1916 essay written by Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist. The original edition was published in German as an essay in the 1916 issues of the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialforschung, and various translations to English exist.

In this book Weber analyses the unavoidable tensions between religious values and worldly activities.