Brayan Munante Spring 2017
Sociology101 TERM PAPER
Prof. Delia
“The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism” Max Weber believed that Protestant Christianity was the cause of modern capitalism. In his book, “The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism,” Weber was concerned with how Protestant thought underpinned the development of capitalism arguing that the spirit of capitalism lay behind the unplanned growth of capitalism in the 19th century. Max Weber defines this spirit as the belief of pursuing ever increasing profit from economic activities. Moreover, Weber believed that this spirit does not tolerate greed; but rather it encourages hard work. Weber had confidence that this spirit develop directly from ascetic Protestantism.
…show more content…
For instance, Dickson and McLachlan concluded, “It seems clear to us that Weber misinterprets Franklin and that the latter was not imbued with the ethos which Weber attributes to him. It is not in dispute that a methodological lifestyle is conducive to the accumulation of wealth” (Pierotti). However, they reassume that although the misunderstanding could cause a break down in Weber’s theory, it did not invalidate his methodology. On the other hand, most of the other criticisms of Weber rest on his assertion that modern capitalism could not have flourished in Europe without an ethic or spirit which had its roots in ascetic Protestantism. These criticisms themselves fall into the characteristics that capitalism was a growing force before the Reformation and that it would have thrived as well under Catholicism as under Protestantism and that the driving force behind capitalism was not asceticism but …show more content…
However, there is no doubt that capitalism in various forms existed in Europe prior to the Reformation. I think it is obvious that several factors were at work in Europe during the long sixteenth century, which led to the growth and dominance of capitalism. All of this taken into consideration, Weber's thesis still stands. His thesis is not perfect; it has all the flaws pointed out by the above critics. However, none of the critics I have read managed to destroy the basic premise by which Weber sought to explain the growth of capitalism. Something happened in the long sixteenth century which saw an explosion of capitalist economic activity, free thought, and religious rebellion. Whether the relationship among these is causal or coincidental will be grounds for conjecture for years to come. History shows us that in fact those nations which were predominantly Protestant showed economic growth much greater than those which were predominantly Catholic. Jacob Viner's argument, the repressive nature of Scottish Calvinism, does not damage Weber. He acknowledged that once a religion becomes a creature of the state, it then tends to oppress people rather than free
Jonathan Klemens’ definition of the Protestant work ethic found in his essay, “The Protestant Work Ethic: Just Another 'Urban Legend?'" pulls inspiration from Max Weber. Klemens’ takes the religious aspect out of Weber’s definition and transforms it from a three part definition to a four part definition. The first part of his definition is passion which is closely followed by commitment and hard work. The fourth and final aspect is innovation. According to Klemens these four parts are essential to a successful and efficient work ethic.
...the birth of capitalism liberated the goals and means of work. Capitalism allowed individuals to own and manage their own business and reflected the secular mind frame derived from the Renaissance Era. The individual is the unit on which capitalism is based. Bonds between merchants was based on free competition rather that the need to trade. This liberating system of economy allows rise for the individual to direct his own business.
Dutch Calvinism too learned the value of religious tolerance. Its austere doctrines sat uneasily beside the lavish lifestyle of the Amsterdam merchants, but between the two, the spirit of capitalism was born.
Weber also thought there was a link between capitalism and the Protestant work ethic. Specifically he looked at Calvinism. Calvinism was a simple way of life in which you were to do good for others. The way into heaven was to do the greatest good for the greatest number of
"Pure capitalism is characterized by private ownership of resources and by reliance on markets, in which buyers and sellers come together and determine what quantities of goods and resources are sold and at what price. Here no central authority oversees production and consumption. Rather, economic decisions are coordinated by the actions of large numbers of consumers and producers, each operating in his or her own self-interest. Because property is privately owned, it can be used in whatever manner its owner chooses (Ragan and Thomas, p. 46)."
Without Capitalism, it is still believed that Europe was a major influence and creator of the industrial revolution. This movement expanded through Britain, China, Russia, and Japan and other countries as well. The author states in his thesis that the development of industrial change was hinged upon the moving change brought upon by European nations. With these details, the author had to elaborate on what the term capitalism was. The author uses the evidence, that there is no exact proof that Capitalism caused Industrial change, to his advantage, and convinces the reader that these accusations are not proven, but can be accurate. The direct use of this evidence is vital since it supports his thesis and dis-credits others who may oppose his position on the topic. Without this support for his thesis, his whole point in the novel would have been completely irrelevant from the beginning.
Heavy industrialization in the United States created a new economic reality in which “the poor enjoy[ed] what the rich could not before afford” by decreasing the labor and money needed to produce material goods (Carnegie). However, it also created problems for the poor in the form of pollution, moral deterioration, and lack of interest in work (Rauschenbusch). Despite the fact that both works focused on a Christian approach to interacting with the economy, their conclusions differed greatly, with Carnegie arguing for the rich to continue to accumulate and distribute wealth to public projects, and Rauschenbusch calling for the rich to redistribute directly to projects that would improve the daily health and moral well being of the poor. While the beliefs were inherently different, their importance was the same. It mattered less what actions the men perceived to be the most beneficial, because both were actively engaging the moral implications of technological advances and their effect on the economy, something that few modern economists
Who would probably get the six hours of leisure, a Protestant or a Catholic? The Protestant group is mostly made up of the Northern European descent. The Catholic group comes mostly from the Southern European descent. Supposedly The Northern group was a little more advanced than the Southern group. The Catholics created less industrialized products, while the Protestants created highly advanced things which allowed their industrial lives to prosper. To me this sounds a lot like who is better the light skinned whites are the darker skinned whites. I mean I understand the facts as to what advancements actually came from a certain place but I think that no one Protestant was actually better than another Catholic. One could argue that maybe the Protestant group is a more advanced group because perhaps they have a personal relationship with God and the Catholic group doesn’t. Is that why the Catholic group isn’t as “blessed” as the Protestants? I mean you could really make up a lot of arguments as to why that is the way that it is. I mean today it is still like this in the world. Guess what the North Americans are a lot more advanced than the Southern Americans. Hmm?
...h century historian, claims these strict, hardworking philosophies of puritanical Protestantism laid the foundations of the capitalist society we have today.
Max Weber’s outlines his views on religion and capitalism in his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber held the important theory that an individual’s views are significant in promoting social change, not material things as believed by former theorists. In his work, Weber compares two waves of “the calling” as preached by different Protestant leaders and describes the teaching and spread of ascetic beliefs in followers. This paper considers the context of the calling, explores the outward signs of grace which helped develop capitalism and, lastly, how capitalism, through rationalization, transformed Calvinist ideals for its advancement.
In other words, he believed the characteristics of capitalism already existed within people which allowed them to exchange in the capitalistic world. The existence of these characteristics can be labelled as the spirit of capitalism. According to Weber, capitalism dominates “economic life, educates and selects the economic subjects which it needs through a process of survival of the fittest” (Weber,433). It hallmarks the ideas of free market, profit motive, and private
...hown to be a fundamental socioeconomic transformation. My paper has shown many aspects of the market society, by using a number of theorists’ concepts. I focused on the characteristics of a market society, as well as why this transformation from traditional society was so significant. I also discussed the changes that have taken place in the workplace and the impact on the workers, which these material conditions became apparent throughout time. Lastly, I explained Weber’s idea of “economic rationality” and the worldview of people in a market society, to show how workers rationalized the work they put into the production and distribution of material goods. Generally, this paper’s purpose was to show how the market society has established itself over time, and how both material and ideological conditions interacted and changed the ways we view market society today.
The wealth that was accumulated through this lifestyle was reinvested into the work process in order to create more wealth. This continual reinvestment of wealth provided the necessary capital and conditions that allowed for the development of modern capitalism. Weber starts out his essay with a few questions that he proposes to try and answer. He notes that European business leaders are overwhelmingly Protestant instead of Catholic. He also notices that the most developed areas of Europe in his time were those that had embraced Protestantism (Weber, 4).
Lynn Harsh (Nov. 2002). ‘Capitalism – A Deal with the Devil?’. Retrieved on Mar. 23 from:
Once capitalism came about, it was like a machine that you were being pulled into without an alternative option. Currently, whether we agree or disagree, for example if you want to survive you need to have a job and you need to make money. Weber believed that social actions were becoming based on efficiency instead of the old types of social actions, which were based on lineage or kinship. Behavior had become dominated by goal-oriented rationality and less by tradition and values. According to Web...