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One of the most renowned and controversial works of modern social science.
–Anthony Giddens
Max Weber is the one undisputed canonical figure in contemporary sociology.
–Times Higher Education Supplement --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.
–Anthony Giddens
Max Weber is the one undisputed canonical figure in contemporary sociology.
–Times Higher Education Supplement --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.
Book Description
This brilliant study opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through the conflict of opposites. Instead, Weber relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds — an effort that ultimately encouraged capitalism.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
great,
By
This review is from: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Library Binding)
this book was somewhat difficult to get through because of the footnotes (i have trouble with footnotes), once you get that point though, it's a fantastic book. it discusses why the capitalist system we have now, and the morality we have now is the way it is. we have all heard of the protestant ethic yes? it is that you must work hard, without pleasuring yourself too much, for the sake of pleasing god. working as hard as you can allows a person to 'most effectively' utilize the gifts god has given them, but they cannot take pleasure in the fruits if this because too much pleasure would result in the breaking of some sin, greed or sloth or what have you, pretty much all of them can be connected i'm sure. but if you can't have fun with what you're working so hard to create, why work so hard? because you are pleasing god, setting yourself up for the next life if you will. well this is wonderful for a historical reference, but we're very much secularized in society today so why does any of this matter? well, weber contends that a man named calvin (yes calvinism) took the protestant ethic and tied it to capitalism. calvin took the protestant ethic, which was good because it got things done with little complaint from the workers, and connected it to the economic system by turning god into money. we can imagine the problems with this, if nothing else, there would be trouble behind the fact that what motivated people before was spiritual, and now we expect the same results because of different motivations. that's like using a car to float down a river instead of a boat. ya cars go forward wonderfully, on the medium they were designed for.so now we all ascetically put ourselves into our work towards the end of making more money. i'm not a history buff so i don't know if this is true or was just used as an example of how religion effected capitalism, but i don't really care as i can see the connections between the protesant ethic and our capitalist morality. weber calls where we are now the iron cage, kind of pessimistic, but he believes that now we're here, we're stuck here. we can't get out of the mental state we are in now, which i don't necessarily agree with, but can see how someone could. if you leave the economic system today, chances are you'll end up on the street. i think this is my favourite quote, it's right at the end of the book and sums up the final point quite well. "No one knows who will live in this cage in the future, or whether at the end of this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or there will be a great rebirth of old ideas and ideals, or, if neither, mechanized petrification, embellished with a sort of convulsive self- importance. For the last stage of this cultural development, it might well be truly said: Specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart; this nullity imagines that it has attained a level of civilization never achieved before " an eye opener to say the least, but a really good read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a determinist: someone that pays attention to culture...,
By M. B. Alcat "Curiosity killed the cat, but sa... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Paperback)
The main point in Weber's *The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism* is that the Protestant ethic helped to shape values favorable to the birth of capitalism. Despite that, the author isn't a cultural determinist because he takes care to point out that values help to shape an outcome, but don't produce it for certain.This book is quite interesting, and includes lots of interesting observations regarding Weber's main premise, despite not being overly long. For instance, the author says that due to the fact that Protestant ethic viewed hard work as a duty and looked down on excesive luxuries, Protestants were indirectly encouraged to save almost all the money they earnt, thus increasing the funds available for the capitalist process. Of course, there are many more examples that contribute to give weight to Weber's argument, but to know more you will need to read *The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism* ... Weber analyses some data at his disposal, and that makes some chapters slightly less engaging. Notwithstanding that, this book is likely to be worth your time and your money. To start with, you will learn quite a few interesting facts you probably were unaware of before. Secondly, and in a more frivolous vein, you will finally know what everybody is talking about when they mention directly or indirectly this book from time to time :) All in all, I recommend this book to those interested in Sociology or Cultural Studies, but also to curious people who want to know more about the influence of culture in different processes. Enjoy it ! Belen Alcat
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most important books in social science,
By Masahiko OKAZAKI (Kochi, JAPAN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Paperback)
As it is one of the most important and influential masterpieces in the history of the social science, if you can understand the analytical methods used in this book, the rest is few. Since even the details are interesting, I stress the structure of this book.The first part is the proposal of the question. Found on several statistical analysis, the following problem is arisen; why merchants and manufactures were willing to be protestant, which has the much severer attitude to desires in the world than Catholic? The reason is the estimation of the job. Their preference is bound to their social situation in the Middle. This is the fundamental leading discipline of Weber. The second part is the results of such Protestantism. They willingly entered them, which obligate their work as sacred. Then, what happened as results? The main influence is brought by the predetermined dogma, which means that the fatal of people has already been determined before their birth. It makes people disinterruptedly anxious and stress, because nothing to do is useful for the salvation in this world. Its psychology became the engine for the world to be free from the magic. His existential analysis of Protestantism attracts readers even now and we applause it, but in his eyes their psychology was bound by their social situations. His analysis seems to stress the psychological change at the second stage to have believed in them, but he shows the importance of the motivation at the first stage to have entered into them. This overview may make clear the composition of his analysis. However, maybe, almost all readers will forget this framework in the face of his analysis' seriosity.
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