Max Weber and Protestantism
Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism heralds a new era in scholarship. Weber was a sociologist, and as such, lends a new perspective to his subject. His writing incorporates all that was new at the turn of the century. He not only delves into the sociology of Protestantism and its impact, but even into the psychology of the individual puritan. Weber's work also sheds new light on a heavily studied historical period, the Reformation. This study is also concerned with economics, particularly the development of capitalism. Weber's purpose in this study is to analyze the origins of capitalism. He finds those origins in the Protestant reformation, particularly in Calvinism. It is Weber's belief that true rational capitalism grew out of Protestant asceticism. Christian asceticism, at first fleeing from the world into solitude, had already ruled the world which it had renounced from the monastery and through the Church. But it had, on the whole, left the naturally spontaneous character of daily life in the world untouched. Now it strode into the marketplace of life, slammed the door of the monastery behind it, and undertook to penetrate just that daily routine of life with its methodicalness, to fashion it into a life in the world, but neither of nor for this world. (p. 154)
This quote, perhaps more than any other, states clearly the spirit of The Protestant Ethic. Weber believes that the ascetic spirit of Protestantism is responsible for the development of rational capitalism. This ascetic impulse not only drove the early Protestants to a life of hard work, particularly work within a calling, but also eliminated any tendencies to enjoy life, and thus, to spend their hard earned incomes. This quote clearly identifies several important factors in Weber's argument. First, the Protestant reformation and ensuing growth of capitalism are a clear break from the medieval past. Secondly, the Protestant reformation extended religious asceticism beyond just those who had taken vows, and made it applicable to all. Religious asceticism became a factor of everyday life, and everyday life became a religious practice in itself. This belief that the routine day to day happenings of life were a sort of religious action led to the "work ethic" that made capitalism possible. This is at the core of Weber's argument, and while his study encompasses capitalism and Protestantism far beyond the scope of the Reformation years, the ascetic spirit of Protestantism is at the core of his argument.
Latest Articles