Max Weber: Contextual Analysis

In his book The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Max Weber analyzes the influence of the Protestantism guide line on capitalism spirit. Since all human work is not parfait, Max Weber’s book contain strength and weakness.

According to Max Weber, the guide line developed by the Protestantism movement influenced the capitalism in different ways. First of all, since Protestant movement created a new religion different from Catholic Church, the church membership created division among people and caused the social classes which characterized the capitalism. In addition, protestant movement promoted the “spirit of hard work, of progress.” (Page11) Since people had to work hard, it was easy for them to accumulate materials and to encourage the materialism spirit. Also, since Catholicism considered the Colling to be a matter of priest or people who work in church activities, the new understanding of this terminology by Martin Luther, as “the fulfilment of worldly duties is under all circumstances the only way to live acceptably,” (Page 41) encouraged each

The major weaknesses of his book is the absence of contextual analysis. Since the principles he presents are fundamental for Protestantism, it could be necessaire to show in what context these principle were developed. The contextual analysis could help to understand the motivation of the leader of protestant movement and could allow to make a reel analysis of the impact of Protestantism ethic on the spirit of capitalism. Without the knowledge of the context it can be subjective to conclude that Protestantism influenced the capitalism. For example, in the United States, the spirit of self-confidence was necessary for the survival of the first immigrants. Since, they had not any protection, in order to survive, they should have a self-confidence. When the context in which each principle were developed are understanding, it become easy to appreciate their