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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Max Weber's book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is actually made up of two articles published separately in 1904 and 1905, respectively, and the two together serve to show Weber's view of the beginnings of capitalism. He takes a historical view and finds that capitalism developed out of the period of the Reformation, and this was also the period when Protestantism developed. For Weber, the two society-wide changes--the economic shift to capitalism and the religious and social shift from the central control of the Catholic church in Rome to a more competitive religious environment with the Catholic Church facing an increasingly decentralized and multiple Protestant movement--are inextricably bound together.

Protestantism asserted a degree of religious independence. Weber says it also signaled a different social view that would also have an influence in economic matters. There might seem to be a contradiction in the idea that the pursuit of money such as marks capitalism is linked with religious belief, which is usually seen as opposing the amassing of money. However, Weber points out that there was an underlying discipline to Protestantism which was extended by believers into all areas of life, including their economic life. Weber relates the spirit of capitalism to the Protestant idea of the calling, introduced during the Reformation by Luther, who saw the calling as a task set by God. The idea of the calling is a justification for worldly activity, and it can be seen as part of Luther's idea that human beings had to adapt themselves to this world as well; as to the next.

Weber examines this issue specifically in terms of the doctrine of Calvinism, which was important in shaping the early American colonies and which thus left a lasting legacy in American life. Weber says capitalism would have developed even without the protestant Reformation, but since the two changes took place at the same time, the...

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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 12:54, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1703152.html