The+Protestant+Ethic+and+the+Spirit+of+Capitalism

ELA's SUMMARY “Do you work to live, or live to work?” - Proverb “Some think Quakers abolished the clergy; in fact, they abolished the laity.” – Quaker saying The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a work of historical sociology which describes the influence of ascetic Protestantism as it existed in the 17th century on the development of capitalism. The basic argument is as follows: Ascetic Protestantism differed from Catholicism in its conceptualization of work and money leading to middle-class capitalist values (such as industry and thrift) and favoring the accumulation (but not the consumption) of weath, conditions favorable to the growth of capitalism. Ascetic Protestant denominations and sects sanctified everyday labor as a means of glorifying God by the fulfillment of one’s calling, and each person had a calling to fulfill. Demonstrating competence in one’s calling was a form of religious testimony. Similarly, ascetic Protestantism sanctified money by characterizing financial success as a sign of God’s favor. However, although one was expected to do well (demonstrate competence, industry, and financial acumen), the point was not to enjoy wealth. Indeed, work was viewed as a form of religious asceticism (carried over from Catholicism’s monastic tradition to the laity), and the wealth resulting from this work was meant to be saved or given to the poor. Additionally, the class structure (rich, middle class, poor) was accepted as deriving from God’s will. In this way, capitalist societies shifted away from a medieval Catholicism which viewed work neutrally as a means of earning a living and viewed with suspicion those who strove to earn more money than necessary to meet their needs (“economic traditionalism”). Instead, new values arose which were favorable to the rise of capitalism (“economic rationalism”). · Weber makes a case for historical sociology beginning on p. 76. · Weber offers some important caveats on pp. 108 and 179. · Weber justifies and conceptualizes the fields of historical sociology and the history of ideas. · Weber underlines the importance of religion on culture, society, and the economy. · The empirics are vague. I give two examples. · On p. 67, Weber writes: “A glance at the occupational statistics for any country in which several religions coexist is revealing.” He then shows us what is revealed by these statistics, but never shows us the statistics themselves. So, where is the data coming from? · Although his purpose is to examine influence of religion on the values of groups of people, he doesn’t study people at all. The subject matter screams for ethnography, but instead we get archival minutia. If you’re guessing that he used a large sampling of diaries as a proxy, you’re wrong. Note on p. 152: “It is apparent that this series of ideas, which we have summarized from the writings of Barclay [. . .].” Yup, that’s right – he’s summarizing the group psychology of the Baptizing sects and churches based on ONE (!!!) source. And here’s another puzzling statement: “For the mood of a generation that devoted itself to the grandiose consistency of the doctrine of predestination, its melancholy inhumanity must have had one result above all: a feeling of unimaginable inner lonliness of the solitary individual” (p. 119) How does he know how people construed this doctrine? Isn’t this just speculation on his part? · On p. 106, Weber contends that religion has a greater influence on values than national character. Yet Inglehart and Welzel say just the opposite, based on empirical data from the World Values Survey. How can this disagreement be adjudicated? · On p. 115, Weber writes: “Our interest, however, is altogether otherwise: we wish to ascertain which psychological motivations gave direction to the organization of the believer’s life and held the individual firmly to it.” If this is the goal, what are the best methods for answering this research question? · Weber also writes on p. 115: “We can only proceed by examining the ideas as ideal types, namely as constructed concepts endowed with a degree of consistency seldom found in actual history.” Is this legitimate, or is this a cop-out? If he aims to present a history of ideas and then says the concepts are not found in history, is this not just an excuse for presenting fascinating but data-free speculations as research?
 * =Title - The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism= ||  ||
 * =Author - Weber= ||  ||
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 * =Summary By - Ela and DeRaismes= ||  ||
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DeRAISMES' SUMMARY ** __General Argument in a Nut Shell __ ** 1. Weber’s goal is to discover the religious sources // in the past // of the idea that life should be organized around systematic work and material success 2. He argues that this manner of organizing life derived from ascetic Protestantism and played a significant (but not unique) role in calling forth the modern spirit of capitalism 3. His investigation of the origins of the Protestant ethic seeks to show how the PE gives rise to methodical-rational organization of life 4. He compares the new spirit of capitalism to the old: || ||  Traditional   ||  Modern   || 5. He links the PE to modern capitalism by showing how this religious belief places psychological rewards directly upon systematic economic activity ** __Greater details on Protestant Asceticism __ ** 1. First introduced by Luther and taken up more forcefully by Calvin, the idea of predestination strongly influenced this asceticism <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">2. Luther introduced the idea of // the calling // – “the fulfillment of duty in vocational callings became viewed as the highest expression that moral activity could assume” (100). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">3. God = the hand of objective power <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">4. The faithful became obsessed with determining the answer to the // certitudo salutis // question (are they among the saved?). The angst, anxiety, and loneliness associated with Lutheranism gave rise to the other Reformed sects that created and discovered signs by God to indicate salvation <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5. Under Calvinism, work became infused with a morality that placed religious value/reward on it. You work to reflect God’s glory. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">a. It became a matter of duty for believers to consider themselves one of select saved and to repel all doubts to the contrary as the work of the Devil <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">b. “Work without rest in a vocational calling was recommended as the best possible means to acquire the self-confidence that one belonged among the elect” (125). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">6. Methodism à <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> must // feel // that you are among the saved <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">7. Baptizing Sects & Churches à <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> “absolute condemnation of all deification of human wants and desires” (151). ** __<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">General effects of Protestant Asceticism __ ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">1. Became a sin to “rest” upon one’s possessions and enjoy wealth <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">2. Became a sin to “waste time” (think Benjamin Franklin’s “Time is money”) <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">3. “To the extent that asceticism undertook to transform and influence the world, the world’s material goods acquired an increasing and, in the end, inescapable power over people – as never before in history” (177). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">4. “Victorious capitalism, in any case, ever since it came to rest on a mechanical foundation, no longer needs asceticism as a supporting pillar” (177). ** __<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Discussion Points __ ** <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">It remains unclear to me exactly how this Protestant ethic became a cultural belief and shed its religious casing. Weber frequently refers back to Franklin’s diary entry as an example of the divorce of religion from this asceticism, but I don’t understand the causal mechanisms that allowed for this separation… Thoughts? = = = = = = = = = = = =
 * <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Business Practices of Employers  ||  <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Employers = static and slow (bare min. for comfortable life)   ||  <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Employers = seek profit and be efficient   ||
 * <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Attitudes Towards Work  ||  <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Work = drudgery and exertion   ||  <span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Work = noble and virtuous   ||
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