Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism

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Special edition from 1934
Max Weber 1894

Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism is the work of Max Weber . It appeared in November 1904 and June 1905 in the form of two treatises in the Archives for Social Sciences and Social Policy , Vols. XX and XXI (I .: The Problem; II .: The Professional Ethics of Ascetic Protestantism). A version created, revised and supplemented by Weber towards the end of his life was published in 1920 under the title The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism . Alongside business and society, it is one of Weber's most important contributions to sociology and is a fundamental work in the sociology of religion .

Emergence

Before Weber began with the Protestant ethics , "the recurring motif [of his work] was the question of the causes, manifestations and effects of capitalism, whose revolutionary power Max Weber explored in all the works treated so far under new aspects." In 1897 he had approached the topic in a lecture (cf. Vol. 2 [see below under issues ], p. 150), Weber was - according to Dirk Kaesler - encouraged to develop it by two circumstances:

  • On the one hand, through Werner Sombart's two-volume work Modern Capitalism (1902), which explored the importance of Calvinism and Quakerism for the development of capitalism and which already speaks of a "capitalist spirit",
  • as well as a discussion that has been going on for years among German historians and economists about the connections between religious and economic developments.

An empirical study by his student Martin Offenbacher then formed the immediate connection point.

Weber wrote the Protestant ethics before and after his trip to the USA from August to November 1904. However, the impressions gathered there hardly had any effect on the script (or its second part, which was written immediately afterwards). The situation is different with the essay 'Churches' and 'Sects' , published in 1906 , in which Weber referred several times to conversations and observations during that trip. The impressions that he "gained here" included in particular the Protestant sects, the organization of the political "machinery", the bureaucratization in the USA, the presidency and the American political structure in general. "

The question

The initial question is why modern culture emerged in the Occident and why B. not (also) developed in China or India or in the Orient, or why it did not appear earlier in Western Europe. Weber attributes this to a “specific rationalism of occidental culture” (vol. 1, p. 20). His aim is therefore to recognize the special peculiarities of Occidental rationalism and in particular its modern variant and to explain their origins.

According to Weber, there is a close connection between Protestant ethics and the beginning of industrialization or capitalism in Western Europe. The compatibility (“elective affinities”) of the ethics or religious worldview of the Protestants , especially the Calvinists , and the capitalist principle of the accumulation of capital and reinvestment of profits were an ideal background for industrialization .

Particularly important to him is the question of the condition for the emergence of an economic ethos : the ethos of an economic form, through certain religious beliefs. He examines this question using the example of the connections between modern business ethics and the rational ethics of ascetic Protestantism (vol. 1, p. 21). He claims that the character of capital ownership and entrepreneurship is predominantly Protestant, and states that Protestants have a more technical, Catholics more humanistic education, as well as a conspicuously "lower participation of Catholics in modern working life in Germany" (Vol. 1, p . 32). He does not want to present a comprehensive cultural analysis, but rather to present the development of "humanity", which was created by the meeting of certain religious and economic conditions.

At the same time, two other scientists are working on similar topics. Ernst Troeltsch dealt with the history of Protestantism and asked about “the task and knowledge objectives in the representation of the religious element of Protestantism and its position in relation to the cultural-historical contexts” (vol. 2, p. 192). Werner Sombart wanted to describe how the spirit of his time has become, especially its representative bearer, as he defines the bourgeoisie - not only in the spiritual, but also in their social relationships. Weber, Troeltsch and Sombart influenced each other in terms of content and methodology.

Weber's task in particular

He describes the task that Max Weber set himself as follows:

"... in my case by discovering a - but m. E. To contribute to a very particularly important - series of causes, which caused the development of a (again particularly important) constitutive component of the spirit of the modern capitalist economy: a coloration of the same that was specifically different from antiquity and the Middle Ages in important points ... " (Vol . 2, p. 284 f.)

Since this task is a very complex historical phenomenon, he is looking for "an ideal-typical concept, a thought structure ... to which the actual average content of the historical approximates in very different degrees." (Vol. 2, p. 304) Weber proceeds like this

“That I [Weber] first 1. recalled the fact that nobody had previously doubted the strikingly strong congruence of Protestantism and modern capitalism ... by means of examples, then 2. illustrated some examples of such ethical maxims (Franklin), ..., and raised the question of how these ethical maxims of life differ from deviating ones, especially those of the Middle Ages, and then 3. tried to illustrate again with examples the way in which such mental attitudes are causally related to the economic system of modern capitalism 4. I came across the idea of ​​a profession, while recalling the long ... established, very specific elective affinity between Calvinism ... and capitalism, and at the same time 5. tried to show that our current concept of the profession is somehow founded on religion. " (Vol. 2 , P. 304 f.)

According to Weber, the study has not been completed (vol. 2, note 39, p. 186) and must at least be supplemented by the following (cf. vol. 1, p. 189 and vol. 2, p. 322):

  • a much more nuanced analysis of the effect of Calvinist , Anabaptist, and Pietist ethics on lifestyle
  • in-depth studies of the approaches of similar developments in the Middle Ages and in ancient Christianity
  • an investigation into the extent to which economic conditions promoted ascetic Protestantism
  • Explanations about the importance of ascetic Protestantism on socio-political ethics, ie on communities from the family to the state
  • also an analysis of the influence of ascetic Protestantism on the development of philosophical and scientific empiricism .

Protestant ethics

The religious ideas of Luther and Calvin

According to Weber, Protestant ethics develops from two decisive ideas: one is Luther's Reformation , the other is - developing from this under the influence of Calvin - the inner-worldly asceticism , a constitutive component of the “modern capitalist spirit”.

Luther's assessment of professions changes from the view that individuals can be saved in any position, i.e. it is pointless to value the nature of the profession, to the view that the profession is a task set by God. In order to please God, the fulfillment of earthly duties, i.e. to carry out the work with diligence to which he has called man , is the only way under all circumstances, and not to surpass inner-worldly morality through monastic asceticism.

Weber attributes this change, among other things, to the fact that the increased volume of trade in Luther's time promoted the importance of professional work. At the same time - caused, among other things, by the work on the translation of the Bible - Luther developed the idea that the life of the individual is predetermined and that the individual has to submit to God's will. Specifically, this means

"... the individual should in principle remain in the profession and status in which God once placed him, and keep his earthly striving within the limits of this given position in life." (Vol. 1, p. 71)

Every permitted profession is worth the same before God - the spiritual as much as the secular professions.

This idea is still very traditionalist, and Weber attributes this to, among other things, Luther's providential thought. Luther's economic ideas were also still traditionalist. Luther vigorously opposed interest taking , just as he was against capitalist acquisition in general.

According to Weber, the development of Orthodox Lutheranism showed only something negative:

"Ceased surpassing the worldly by ascetic duties [Weber probably thinks inner-worldly morality by monastic asceticism] , connected but with the preaching of obedience to authority and the destiny in the given situation in life, here was initially the only ethical yield." ( Vol. 1, p. 72)

Luther's intentions - the mere thought of professional work - are only problematic. Weber is looking for "manifestations of Protestantism" , "in which a connection between life practice and the religious starting point is easier to determine than in Lutheranism." (Vol. 1, p. 73) In the various faiths that emerged after Luther, Weber sees the decisive historical bearers. In addition to Calvinism , these are Pietism , Methodism , and the sects that emerged from the various Anabaptist movements, namely the Quakers .

Weber states that the reformers were not concerned with ethical reform programs (cf. vol. 1, p. 75); instead, the question of salvation formed the fulcrum of their religious and theological thoughts. In this respect, it also completely misses Weber's goal if capitalism is understood as the result of the Reformation. Rather, it should be determined “whether and in what points certain elective affinities between certain forms of religious belief and professional ethics can be identified.” (Vol. 1, p. 77) Weber sees the “elective affinities” in Calvinism - he goes here to the other faiths not one - in the methodical way of life and the professional view. This is essentially based on predestination - the doctrine of the choice of grace.

This doctrine says that God, by His ordination, ordains some people to eternal life and others to eternal death. Grace can be lost with Luther, but can be regained through repentance, whereas with Calvinism it is predetermined.

How does the believer find out whether he is chosen or not? This uncertainty creates constant fear among believers. But how do the believers endure this constant fear?

In pastoral practice, “two interrelated types of pastoral advice emerged” (vol. 1, p. 128), which are intended for pastors, among other things. On the one hand, it is made the duty of the believer to consider himself chosen. Otherwise, the believer will succumb to the devil who sows doubt. Here Weber sees the education to become a self-assured “saint”, which he is still able to recognize in his own time. Here Weber also notices the difference to Luther. A Lutheran would be a repentant sinner. On the other hand, the pastors advise believers to work professionally, as an excellent means of gaining self-assurance, but actually to reduce fear.

The self-certainty has to be discussed in more detail here. Because no one can help you to gain self-assurance - no preacher, no sacrament, no church, no God. The believer is left to himself. He mustn't confide in anyone, because then he would have doubts again, and thus fall for the devil. A warning is given against human aid and friendship. Deep mistrust is required even towards the closest friend. Confession also quietly disappeared - the means of periodically reacting off the intensely aroused sense of guilt. Weber reads this in edification writings of the time. He deduces from this that individuals, in deep inner isolation, are preoccupied with themselves.

The effect of this isolation or this fear leads to every conceivable self-humiliation for some, to a restless and systematic struggle with life for others.

To grace certainty to gain, good works are not suitable, but they are indispensable as a sign of election. In other words: the believer cannot buy bliss, but he can get rid of fear for bliss. Weber says, "that God helps him who helps himself" (vol. 1, p. 131). The believer thus constantly puts himself under control, and that is therefore a consistent method for shaping the entire way of life.

The doctrine of predestination of the Calvinists led to a secularization of worship, which was not restricted to the church , but rather found expression in daily life coupled with the idea of ​​“probation” (vol. 1, p. 111, note 4). With reference to this one often speaks of the inner-worldly asceticism , which demands frugality and celibacy . In contrast to other religions , God's grace cannot be obtained through transcendent actions (prayer, confession), but is predetermined. Predestination cannot be positively influenced, but in this world it is expressed through success.

The spirit of capitalism

Weber is looking for the constitutive components that have made the “spirit of modern capitalism” what it is today. To do this, he must first clarify what he means by this.

For him, this spirit is first of all a historical concept that is composed of its individual components taken from historical reality (vol. 1, p. 39, cf. ideal type ). Weber only considers this concept from the point of view that is essential for working on this subject. So it can only be a “provisional illustration” of what is meant here by the “spirit of modern capitalism” (vol. 1, p. 40). According to Weber, capitalism is the pursuit of profit, of profitability - in a continuously, rationally working company. But also: the condition of unlimited greed. Weber understands the capitalist economic act as the exploitation of exchange opportunities in a formally peaceful manner (Vol. I, p. 12/13). For him, three historical developments mark milestones in the growth of capitalism:

  1. the rational business organization
  2. the separation of household and business and
  3. rational accounting (vol. 1, p. 17)

In order to get closer to the “spirit of modern capitalism”, Weber compares statements by Jakob Fugger and Benjamin Franklin on their respective understandings of business intelligence.

Weber sees only commercial daring and a personal, morally indifferent inclination as the cause of the busyness of the banker and imperial count Jakob Fugger, who ran the largest banking house in early capitalism . As evidence, he cites a saying by Fugger to a business friend who had asked him to retire, since he had now earned enough: “He [Fugger] would have a lot of other meaning, wanted to win because he could, ... " (Vol. 1, p. 43)

The American naturalist and politician Franklin, on the other hand, said on the subject:

  • Remember that time is money ...
  • Remember that credit is money ...
  • Remember that money is of a fertile and fertile nature ...
  • Remember that ... a good payer is the master of everyone's purse ...
  • Aside from diligence and moderation, nothing contributes so much to advancing a young man in the world as punctuality and fairness in all his dealings ...
  • The blow of your hammer, which your believer hears at 5 a.m. or 8 p.m., satisfies him for six months; But if he sees you at the pool table or hears your voice in the tavern when you are supposed to be at work, he will send you a reminder for payment the next morning and demand his money before you have it available ...
  • ... keep an exact account of your expenses and your income ...
  • Whoever “loses” 5 shillings not only loses the sum, but everything that could have been earned with it in the trade - which, when a young man reaches a higher age, accumulates to a very significant sum. (Vol. 1, pp. 40-42)

According to Weber, Franklin is permeated by the “spirit of modern capitalism” - even if not everything that defines this spirit is contained in the quotations listed. In this “philosophy of avarice” Weber discovered not only “business prudence”, but a “peculiar ethic ”: that peculiar idea of ​​professional duty that is so familiar to us today and in fact so little taken for granted: an obligation that the individual should and feel in relation to the content of his "professional" activity, regardless of what it consists of, [...] (Vol. 1, p. 42)

It is this “peculiar ethic” of Franklin that, according to Weber, distinguishes the “spirit of (early) capitalism” from the “spirit of modern capitalism”. As the center of this ethic he sees the “acquisition of money and more and more money, while strictly avoiding all uninhibited enjoyment, so completely stripped of all eudaemonistic [blissful] or even hedonistic [ pleasure- oriented] points of view, so purely conceived as an end in itself that it is something Compared to the 'happiness' or the 'benefit' of the individual individual, what appears to be completely transcendent and utterly irrational ” (Vol. 1, p. 44)

According to Weber, this reversal of the “natural” state of affairs contains “... at the same time a series of sensations which closely relates to certain religious ideas” . (Vol. 1, p. 44) As a witness for this thesis he again cites Franklin, who refers as the basis of his philosophy to a frequently heard saying of his strictly Calvinist father: “If you see a man vigorous in his profession, he should come forward Kings stand. "

The appreciation of the profession is another very central element, but not in the Calvinist, but in the Lutheran sense. Weber speaks of professional duty as "... in a certain sense ... of constitutive importance" (for the "social ethics" of the capitalist structure) (vol. 1, p. 45) and describes it as "an obligation that the individual should and perceive compared to the content of his professional activity, regardless of what it consists of, in particular whether it must appear to the impartial perception as the pure exploitation of his labor or even just his property ('as capital') ” (Vol. 1, p. 45).

Here “profession” presents itself as an absolute end in itself and stands in contrast to the pre-capitalist, traditional conception in which need appears as an end and work as a means to achieve this end - with a minimum of performance. Weber et al. a. using the example of farm workers. When the piecework wage is increased (in marks per acre), they work less in line with the increase, since they now generate the means for their needs with less effort. (Vol. 1, p. 50)

What is also noteworthy about the above statement on professional obligations is that Weber regards the utilization of work and the utilization of physical capital as a profession. But for him the Calvinist move to acquisition is the more powerful motor at the start of capitalism. Stronger because this was the only way to accumulate the necessary capital that forced capitalism to invest . This collection of capital was again necessary because the commercial middle class, according to Weber the essential bearer of the “modern capitalist spirit”, as a rule did not have large financial resources.

Weber contrasts this up-and-coming medium-sized enterprise with the traditionalist company, whose working method he illustrates using the example of a publisher in the textile industry. Its activity is characterized by:

  • 5 to 6 hours daily working time
  • little "customer care"
  • Unrivaled competition through agreements
  • Enjoying the modest but certain profit.

He also emphasizes: "The absolute and conscious recklessness of the pursuit of profit was often very hard right next to the strictest [ethical] tradition" (vol. 1, p. 48). He thus states: The capitalist form of an economy and the spirit in which it is run are generally in an “adequate” relationship, but not in that of a legal dependence on one another, “because that attitude is most adequate in modern capitalist enterprise Form, on the other hand, the capitalist enterprise has found in it the most adequate intellectual driving force. ” And further: “ The question of the driving forces of the expansion of modern capitalism is not primarily a question of the origin of the capitalistically usable money reserves, but above all of the Development of the Capitalist Spirit ” (Vol. 1, pp. 54 and 58).

Occidental Rationalism and Protestant Ethics

For Weber, the question arises as to which conditions would have to be given in order to arrive at the constitutive components of the “modern capitalist spirit” which he treated.

First of all, Weber noticed that the most capitalistically advanced regions are most often to be found in the Occident. He attributes this to a more systematically rational basic attitude in the Occident, which he tries to explain using a few examples.

He refers to the mathematical penetration of the natural sciences in contrast to other regions such as India , China , Babylonia and Egypt - even with the Hellenes ( Greeks ). These are also considered to be the “inventors” of the idea of ​​“rational proof” (Vol. 1, p. 9).

In the area of ​​historiography, Weber mentions China, which manages here without the Thucydideic pragma (vol. 1, p. 10)

Weber also names the systematic theory of the state after Aristotle and the legal schemes and forms of thought of the Occident, which are based on Roman law - and which have influenced occidental events up to the present day.

At this point Weber also cites canon law ( church law ), which according to him only exists in this systematic form in the Occident (vol. 1, p. 10).

Weber next relates the above points to the form of capitalism that he believes exists in the Occident. He wants to find out how bourgeois working capitalism with its rational organization of free labor came about in the Occident (vol. 1, p. 18).

The first thing Weber mentions is the development of technical possibilities based on mathematically and experimentally exact, rationally founded natural sciences . Weber next cites the capitalist usability of technology as an outflow of the occidental social order, the most important components of which are the rational structure of law and administration - that is, calculable - (Vol. 1, p. 19).

At this point he draws attention to the problems posed by the terms “ rational ” and “ irrational ”. Depending on the point of view from which actions are viewed, they can be “rational” or “irrational” (vol. 1, p. 20).

For Weber, the first thing that matters is to recognize the special characteristics of modern Occidental rationalism and to explain how it came about. For this purpose, in addition to the economic conditions, attention must be paid to “the ability and disposition of people to lead certain types of practical-rational life” (Vol. 1, pp. 20/21). This way of life is essentially shaped by magical and / or religious powers that develop certain ethical notions of duty (vol. 1, p. 21).

For Weber, this raises the question of the connection between modern business ethics (= “spirit of modern capitalism”) and religious ethics. Starting from the claim that capital ownership and higher technical workers and white-collar workers are predominantly Protestant, he focuses on the "rational ethics of ascetic Protestantism". Here he then describes the remarkable parallels in particular of the concept of occupation and the duty of frugality of ascetic Protestantism, as can be found in Calvin, among others, with the constitutive components of the “modern capitalist spirit” profession and gain as an end in themselves.

An example will show the importance of the religious for capitalist development. Here young, unmarried women, who are particularly difficult to train to work rationally, are contrasted with others who have been brought up pietistically. Their "central attitude: to feel obliged to work, are found here particularly often combined with strict economic efficiency, which takes into account earnings and its amount, and with sober self-control and moderation, which immensely increases performance" (vol. 1, p. 53).

Weber tries to prove that from the "spirit of capitalism" through the influence - essentially - of Protestant ethics, the "spirit of modern capitalism" arose.

In this context, the question , which came first: the “spirit of modern capitalism” or “modern capitalism”, is of crucial importance. If it could be shown that the spirit experienced a significant spread before modern capitalism, this would at least be an important indication of the influence of the "spirit" on the "expansion" of modern capitalism.

Weber claims: "[T] as in any case, in Benjamin Franklin's country of birth (Massachusetts), the" capitalist spirit "(in the sense we assume here) was there before the 'capitalist development' [...]"

From the materialistic point of view, there is a reversal of the causal relationship, at least in this case (vol. 1, p. 46).

Weber also refers to the great importance of the religious for everyday life in the late Middle Ages and at the beginning of the modern era (vol. 1, p. 166). In order to shed light on the connection between ascetic Protestantism and “spirit”, he concentrates on what, in his opinion, was an important preacher of the 16th century, the English Puritan Richard Baxter and his “Compendium of Puritan Moral Theology”, “Christian Directory”. Important elements of this moral theology are:

  • the moral danger of being tempted by wealth
  • the reprehensible of resting on existing possessions
  • activity as God's will to increase his glory
  • Work as a tried and tested ascetic means (vol. 1, p. 166 ff.);

But: "Not work in itself, but rational professional work is precisely what God demands" (vol. 1, p. 171).

According to Weber, Puritanism carried “the ethos of the rational civil enterprise and the rational organization of work” (vol. 1, p. 174).

This Protestantism obliges the individual, for the glory of God, to maintain property and to increase it through restless work - both essential components of the “modern capitalist spirit”. In this context Weber points out that “the genesis of this lifestyle” goes back to the Middle Ages in individual roots, as in other components (vol. 1, p. 179).

For Weber, however, the mere favoring of capital formation is not the most important consequence of the Puritan view of life, but a "tendency towards a bourgeois, economically rational way of life" caused by it. Exactly this way of life leads, according to him, to the “modern economic man” as the carrier of capitalist expansion (vol. 1, p. 182).

At Weber's time, ethics freed itself from its religious fetters - the “capitalist spirit” no longer needs this support. Methodist co-founder John Wesley had foreseen this development . After he established that work and thrift and thus also wealth were automatically promoted by religion, he comes to the conclusion that in this way the form of religion remains, but the spirit gradually disappears (vol. 1, p. 183) .

Criticism and confirmation

Immediately after its publication, a heated debate broke out over Protestant ethics that lasted about five years. Up to Weber's death in 1920 Weber's contemporary impact was small and limited to the circle in the Weber's house. It was only after the end of the Second World War that Weber was better noticed, especially by Talcott Parsons , who translated Weber's works into English. "It was not until the Heidelberg Sociologists' Day in 1964 that German sociologists also made the status of international Weber reception clear."

A Marxist criticism of Weber's thesis of the special role of Protestant ethics in the origins and development of capitalism was exercised by Henryk Grossmann in his essay “The Beginnings of.”, Which he wrote in the mid-1930s as part of his criticism of Franz Borkenau and which was first published in English in 2006 Capitalism and the New Mass Morality ". As Weber assumes, Calvinism did not serve as a morality designed to lead the masses to accept wage labor, nor did it express the interests of the bourgeoisie. Rather, it emerged as a doctrine of the artisan class, which, however, did not produce capitalism. Furthermore, capitalism appeared in Italy two centuries before Calvinism without the help of any religious irrationalism. The decisive aspect, neglected by Borkenau and Weber, in training for work discipline was more of a coercion than religion. Using the materials presented in Marx's Das Kapital on the development of capitalism in England, supplemented by examples from 17th century France, Grossmann concludes that religion in general serves as an instrument for taming the masses. Certain lines of Catholicism such as the Molinist content of Jesuitism and Jansenism are better suited to capitalist mass morality than Protestantism.

Richard Sennett sums up in his work The flexible man the Protestant Ethic together and criticized them. He writes: “As a study of economic history, Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism are full of errors. As an economic analysis, it strangely bypasses any view of consumption as the driving force of capitalism. However, as an analysis of a character type, both intention and execution are conclusive. The work ethic of the driven man does not appear Max Weber as a source of human happiness, not as the basis of mental strength. The driven man is bent too much under the weight of the weight he has learned to assign to work. Discipline is an act of self-denial, says Michel Foucault , and that is exactly how it appears in Weber's account of the work ethic. "

Weber's hypothesis that Protestantism promoted economic development was empirically tested by Davide Cantoni on the basis of data on 272 cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the period 1300–1900. Cantoni's 2009 results contradict Weber's theory; Protestantism did not affect growth.

In contrast, the American sociologist Gerhard Lenski found a number of important theses Weber confirmed in a broad empirical study in the Detroit area (state of Michigan ) in 1958 . Protestants are more likely than Catholics to move up in the economic system, especially in the upper middle class. Catholics generally have more children than Protestants. They would rather have a "traditionalist" orientation (committed to the traditional), while Protestants were more inclined to the "rationalist" way of thinking (seeking the unexplored). The considerable "contributions of Protestantism to material progress" were largely "unintended by-products" of certain Protestant behaviors. More than a hundred years before Weber, John Wesley , a co-founder of the Methodist Church , observed that Methodists became wealthy through "diligence and frugality," so wealthy that Wesley was concerned about their obedience to the faith. According to Weber - and Lenski - Methodists shared these behaviors with members of other Reformation churches, particularly Puritans and Pietists , less strongly with Anglicans and Lutherans . However, Lensky found that there was hardly any ascetic attitude to be found among modern Protestants. The doctrine of “calling”, as Weber described it, has also faded into the background. Instead, “intellectual autonomy” plays an increasingly important role among today's Protestants. This was strengthened by the Reformation, especially among Anabaptists , Puritans, Pietists, Methodists and Presbyterians . It is a favorable prerequisite for taking up scientific or technical professions. On the other hand, Catholics tend to have an intellectual attitude that emphasizes “obedience” and loyalty to church teaching. This is a disadvantage for a scientific or technical profession. Catholic sociologists have come to the same research results. Among other things, this is a confirmation of Weber's thesis that Protestants preferred a technical, Catholics more a humanistic education (see above).

The Merton thesis , named after the American sociologist Robert King Merton , states that the scientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries was mainly supported by English Puritans and German Pietists. Merton attributed this in particular to the ascetic behavior of Protestants that Weber had described.

The theologian Friedrich Wilhelm Graf : “Sociologists of religion like Peter L. Berger and David Martin have interpreted the Protestant religious revolution in Latin America as an implicit confirmation of basic elements of the 'Weber thesis', more precisely in terms of the history of science: the 'Weber-Troeltsch thesis'. In any case, many pious people interpret their transition from the Roman Catholic Church to a Protestant Pentecostal church even in concepts of a moral economy that promises long-term gains through strong inner-worldly asceticism. The strict ascetic self-discipline that is successfully institutionalized in the Pentecostal congregations, the willingness to work more and harder and to live less in the day, also leads to the fact that many of the Pentecostal Christians see their new faith in God confirmed by economic success. Your social advancement, often interpreted by others as a sign of wonderful salvation from God, thus becomes a vehicle for successful mission. "

Further developments

In their book The New Spirit of Capitalism, Chiapello and Boltanski try to fathom the current “spirit” and describe the “spirit of capitalism” as an ideology […] that justifies commitment to capitalism. "

The authors distinguish three historical stages of the capitalist spirit. The heroic aspects of the bourgeoisie at the end of the 19th century “ are concentrated in the figure of the businessman, the impostor, the conqueror. “The second phase, after them, peaked between 1930 and 1960. “ The big, centralized, bureaucratic and gigantic industrial enterprise is central here. "The current" "third spirit" [show] structural features with a " globalized " capitalism employing new technologies ".

expenditure

  • Max Weber: Protestant ethics and the “spirit” of capitalism. In: Archives for Social Science and Social Policy. 20, 1904, pp. 1-54. Available online at archive.org
  • Max Weber: Protestant ethics and the “spirit” of capitalism. In: Archives for Social Science and Social Policy. 21, 1905, pp. 1-110 Available online at archive.org
  • Max Weber: Collected essays on the sociology of religion I (pp. 1–206), Max Weber 1920, 8th edition, Mohr, Tübingen 1988, ISBN 3-16-845366-8 .
  • Max Weber: The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism , Mohr, Tübingen 1934.
  • Max Weber: The Protestant Ethics I. A collection of essays , edited by Johannes Winckelmann , Siebenstern, Hamburg 1965, from 5th edition, GTB / Siebenstern, Gütersloh 1979, ISBN 3-579-01433-1 [in the text as "Bd.1" ]
  • Max Weber: The Protestant Ethics II. Criticism and anti-criticism , edited by Johannes Winckelmann, Siebenstern Hamburg 1968, from the 3rd edition. GTB / Siebenstern, Gütersloh 1978, ISBN 3-579-03827-3 [in the text as "Bd.2"]
  • Max Weber: The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, Complete Edition. Edited and introduced by Dirk Kaesler , 3rd revised edition. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 3-406-51133-3 .

literature

  • Seminar: Religion and Social Development. Studies on Max Weber's Protestantism-Capitalism thesis. Edited by Constans Seyfarth a. Walter M. Sprondel. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1973 ISBN 3-518-07638-8 (= Suhrkamp pocket book science 38).
  • Herbert Marcuse : Calvin and Luther. In: Institute for Social Research (Ed.), Studies on Authority and Family. Paris, 1936.
  • Werner Sombart : The bourgeois. On the intellectual history of the modern business man. Munich / Leipzig 1913, reprint 1920.
  • Dirk Kaesler : Max Weber. An introduction to life, work and impact , Campus, Frankfurt am Main ³2003, ISBN 3-593-37360-2 .
  • Markus Lilienthal: Interpretation. Max Weber: The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism , in: Interpretations. Hauptwerke der Sozialphilosophie , Reclam, Stuttgart 2001, pp. 94-107. ISBN 3-15-018114-3 .
  • Luc Boltanski , Eve Chiapello: The New Spirit of Capitalism . UVK, Konstanz 2003, ISBN 3-89669-991-1 .
  • Peter Ghosh: A Historian Reads Max Weber. Essays on the Protestant Ethic (Studies in Cultural and Social Sciences), Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-447-05777-6 (see the review at H-Soz-u-Kult ).
  • Heinz Steinert : Max Weber's irrefutable faulty constructions: The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism , Campus, Frankfurt am Main / New York 2010, ISBN 3-593-39310-7 .
  • Birger P. Priddat: work and leisure. Luther, Schiller, Marx, Weber, Lafargue, Keynes, Russell, Marcuse, Precht. About a European hope of transforming work into higher activity . Metropolis, Marburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7316-1409-8 , therein pp. 9-27: Beginning and End of Protestant Ethics .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. "The revision consists mainly of insertions in the text part, and in the footnote part of a detailed examination of the literature that has since appeared, in particular the work of Werner Sombart and Lujo Brentano ." Wolfgang Schluchter , The emergence of modern Rationalism. Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 273, footnote 1
  2. Dirk Kaesler , Max Weber. An introduction to life, work and impact , Frankfurt am Main ³2003, p. 99
  3. Luc Boltanski / Eve Chiapello: Der neue Geist des Kapitalismus , Konstanz, 2003, p. 605, footnote 11, they refer to an essay by H. Bruhns, 1997, p. 105
  4. Dirk Kaesler 2003, p. 99f
  5. See Dirk Kaesler 2003, p. 100 f.
  6. Dirk Kaesler 2003, p. 27
  7. Success through work testifies to the predestination of the individual , who thus became an ideal worth striving for; whoever does not work wastes a gift of grace; whoever gives something to a beggar prevents him from doing it - which passively corresponded to the “spirit” of capitalism.
  8. Dirk Kaesler 2003, p. 257
  9. Rick Kuhn: Introduction to Henryk Grossman's critique of Franz Borkenau and Max Weber, in Journal of Classical Sociology 6 (2) July 2006, preprint online (English)
  10. ^ Richard Sennett: The flexible person. The culture of the new capitalism. , Wiesbeck, 2000, pp. 141f
  11. ^ Davide Cantoni: The Economic Effects of the Protestant Reformation: Testing the Weber Hypothesis in the German Lands. Job Market Paper, Harvard University, November 10, 2009. ( Memento of the original from November 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 689 kB)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.people.fas.harvard.edu
  12. Calvin's doctrine of predestination had no influence on these behaviors, since Wesley and the Methodist communities he shaped rejected this doctrine
  13. ^ Thomas F. O'Dea, American Catholic Dilemma: An Inquiry into the Intellectual Life , New York, NY, 1958
  14. ^ Frank L. Christ and Gerard Sherry (Eds.), American Catholicism and the Intellectual Ideal , New York, NY, 1961
  15. Gerhard Lenski , The Religious Factor: A Sociological Study of Religion's Impact on Politics, Economics, and Familiy Life , Revised Edition, Garden City, NY, 1963, pp. 279, 284, 347-348, 350-351, 357-358
  16. ^ I. Bernard Cohen, Puritanism and the Rise of Modern Science: the Merton Thesis , Rutgers University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8135-1530-0
  17. Russell Heddendorf, Religion, Science, and the Problem of Modernity . In JASA , 38, December 1986, pp. 226-231
  18. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Graf: The Protestantism. History and present. 2nd, revised edition, Munich 2010, p. 116 f
  19. Luc Boltanski / Eve Chiapello 2003, p. 43
  20. Luc Boltanski / Eve Chiapello 2003, p. 54
  21. Luc Boltanski / Eve Chiapello 2003, p. 55
  22. Luc Boltanski / Eve Chiapello 2003, p. 57