The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

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The book ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ was written by the German sociologist Max Weber in 1905. He wrote about the relation between capitalism in the northern part of Europe and the religion of this part of Europe.

The majority of northern Europe was Protestant and these people had different ethics then others. Weber found the origins of these ethics related to the Reformation, a revolt of the Protestant against the Roman Catholic Church and her ideas about salvation and assurance of that.

The leading persons of the Reformation were Martin Luther and John Calvin. They argued that there was nothing like an assurance for salvation. The Protestants believed that in the beginning, already before creating the earth, God decided who to save for eternity, apart from actions and the free will of humans. So, the Protestants started searching for a sign, to know they were ‘selected’. You can’t influence the decision God made and for all Protestants and it was absolutely necessary to believe you were chosen and to act that way. You had to act with self-confidence.

Worldly success in combination with sober living were seen by the Protestants as ‘manifestations of grace and divine power’ (Campbell, 1981, p.176).

Under construction Jobke Heij

References Campbell, T. (1981). Seven Theories of Human Society. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Chapter 8: Max Weber: An Action Theory. pp. 169-189.

External Links Weber, M. (1905). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism [1]