Context
German sociologist and economist Max Weber (1864-1920) published his most famous
work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, in 1904-1905.
Weber's writings and theories helped establish the foundations of modern
sociology. Some of his other famous works include "Objectivity" In Social
Science, Science as a Vocation, Politics as a Vocation, and
The Theory of Social and Economic Cooperation.
His account of bureaucracy as an essential feature of modern society has been
highly influential. Weber was influenced by Karl
Marx's writings, although he was not a
Marxist, and actually criticizes aspects of Marxist theory in The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism argues that the
"spirit" that defines capitalist institutions has its roots in the Protestant
Reformation. The
Reformation was a sixteenth-century religious movement that led to the creation
of
Protestantism, beginning with the protests of Martin Luther against the Catholic
Church in
1517. Luther argued that people could be saved through faith alone, and this
doctrine is one of the basic tenets of Lutheranism. Another Protestant religion
that figures prominently in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism is
Calvinism. Rooted in the ideas of John Calvin, Calvinism was based on the
doctrine of predestination--that individual salvation was preordained by God.
Calvinism is an ancestor of modern-day Presbyterianism.
