The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism and Other Writings (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

Rating:
Summary: One of sociology's definitive texts.
Review: Max Weber (1864-1920) is usually considered (with Emile Durkheim) one of the founding fathers of modern sociology. Weber's interests in economics, law, bureaucracy, and religion led to some of the most scintillating writing ever produced in the social sciences, and his strenuous originality of thought, dense but lucid prose, and formidable analytical gifts invested his writings with lasting significance. For a good place to start in exploring the works of this great scholar, "The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism" would do nicely.

This is one of the definitive texts in the history of sociology, and its power and resonance can be seen in the fact that it remains in print nearly a hundred years after it first appeared. In it, Weber traces the history and philosophical components of what he calls the "spirit of capitalism," which is the worldview, arising originally out of the Calvinist concept of "predestination," of the fulfillment of a worldly occupation (or "calling") as the appropriate task of pious men who were understandably worried about their fate in the afterlife.

Because Calvinism and later forms of protestant religious practice placed an emphasis on overcoming the anxiety induced by predestination, the methodical distraction of immersion in a worldly occupation evolved into a view of lawful financial toil and accumulation of capital as an ethical end in itself. With the eventual stripping away of the spiritual components of this idealism, we were left with the tradition of the following of a calling and the moral "goodness" of this worldly profession, the moral goodness, in other words, of economic participation and productivity.

Weber's brilliant and tightly argued thesis I find persuasive, though it has never ceased to be controversial. We can see reflections of his ideas, however, in the modern tendency of "conservative" Christians to be radically anti-government and anti-regulation when it comes to business. The idea of poverty as a gift from God to motivate the lazy, which many of the Christians described by Weber used to justify their own obsessive accumulation of wealth and refusal to redistribute it, is also evident in the social Darwinist tendencies of contemporary American Christians. The fact that this approach to worldly life is diametrically opposed to Jesus' example and his teachings in, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, does not at all trouble these people, many of whom are about as likely to actually read the Bible as they are to vote Democrat. Like the Calvinists and Puritans in Weber's analysis, their self-satisfaction exceeds any pangs they might receive from their inconvenient consciences.

"The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism" is often held up as a stinging refutation of the Marxist concept of historical materialism. In short, Weber proposes culture and society as the fundamental influence on historical and economic change, whereas Marx held that economics alone was the base which dictated to the superstructure. To me, both ideas are compelling, and a full understanding of the implications they contain can only come from reading both and deciding for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: One of sociology's definitive texts.
Review: Max Weber (1864-1920) is usually considered (with Emile Durkheim) one of the founding fathers of modern sociology. Weber's interests in economics, law, bureaucracy, and religion led to some of the most scintillating writing ever produced in the social sciences, and his strenuous originality of thought, dense but lucid prose, and formidable analytical gifts invested his writings with lasting significance. For a good place to start in exploring the works of this great scholar, "The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism" would do nicely.

This is one of the definitive texts in the history of sociology, and its power and resonance can be seen in the fact that it remains in print nearly a hundred years after it first appeared. In it, Weber traces the history and philosophical components of what he calls the "spirit of capitalism," which is the worldview, arising originally out of the Calvinist concept of "predestination," of the fulfillment of a worldly occupation (or "calling") as the appropriate task of pious men who were understandably worried about their fate in the afterlife.

Because Calvinism and later forms of protestant religious practice placed an emphasis on overcoming the anxiety induced by predestination, the methodical distraction of immersion in a worldly occupation evolved into a view of lawful financial toil and accumulation of capital as an ethical end in itself. With the eventual stripping away of the spiritual components of this idealism, we were left with the tradition of the following of a calling and the moral "goodness" of this worldly profession, the moral goodness, in other words, of economic participation and productivity.

Weber's brilliant and tightly argued thesis I find persuasive, though it has never ceased to be controversial. We can see reflections of his ideas, however, in the modern tendency of "conservative" Christians to be radically anti-government and anti-regulation when it comes to business. The idea of poverty as a gift from God to motivate the lazy, which many of the Christians described by Weber used to justify their own obsessive accumulation of wealth and refusal to redistribute it, is also evident in the social Darwinist tendencies of contemporary American Christians. The fact that this approach to worldly life is diametrically opposed to Jesus' example and his teachings in, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, does not at all trouble these people, many of whom are about as likely to actually read the Bible as they are to vote Democrat. Like the Calvinists and Puritans in Weber's analysis, their self-satisfaction exceeds any pangs they might receive from their inconvenient consciences.

"The Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism" is often held up as a stinging refutation of the Marxist concept of historical materialism. In short, Weber proposes culture and society as the fundamental influence on historical and economic change, whereas Marx held that economics alone was the base which dictated to the superstructure. To me, both ideas are compelling, and a full understanding of the implications they contain can only come from reading both and deciding for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Seminal enquiry into the roots/origins of modern capitalism
Review: Rarely have I ever come accross such a great book. I could hardly put it down before finish. Not only is the work very scholarly written as to the description of the frame of mind of the Calvinist, Puritan and Baptist believers, but it also translates the impact of such mind-frames into socio-economic behaviour.

What is the behavioural impact of a confession of faith and various christian beliefs on the conduct of business in a society? To my knowlege, Weber was the first to not only raise such a question but also to let the answers freely flow out from historical and cross-comparative studies.

Are you a christian? Read it. Are you a protestant? Read it. Are you a catholic? Read it. Are you sometimes feeling as a specialist without spirit or a hedonist without a heart? Read it.

It is not only a christian commonsense refutation of Das Kapital ans its utopian idealism, so far from real life and human condition as such, but also a real alternative to today's "specialists without spirit, hedonists without a heart, nonentities imagining they have attained a stage of humankind never reached before".

By the way, this IS INDEED a very good translation from the original 1905 publication of the first edition, therefore free from the more controversial and vindicative tone which controversial critics are alleged to often have succeeded in drawing Weber into. Here you will have Weber's original ideas laid bare and plainly exponed in their original and simple form, free from the controversy-ladden arguments which Weber had to face by the end of his carrer (BTW, Weber highly resented the controversy in which he found his work drawn into, which he solely intended as a basis step for further studies and enquiries).

Rating:
Summary: Master of Cultural Studies
Review: This book is legendary. Max Weber arguably was the first social scientists who devoted his life's work to cross-cultural studies. His pioneering study of "The protestant ethic..." combines a broad, almost universal, vision of human desires and ideas with painstaking details of how certain religious movements transformed the economic basis of feudal Europe, and later the United States, into an economy of competition and free enterprise. The drive in early capitalism, Weber shows, was an inherent
religious belief in money as a means of eternal salvation. Trough accumulating more wealth, capitalists were trying to prove for themselves that they were worthy of God's grace and hence were secured an afterlife in Paradise. However, spending money was not an option for these capitalists. It was considered a sin to use capital gains to satisfy carnal and worldly desires ( compare with Enron and Worldcom executives). Wealth was in many ways protected by a fear of God.