Protestant Ethic

Weber presented the idea of investing the money in an effort to promote the growth of capitalism. As a result; the Protestant ethic guided its followers to work, develop business, engage in commerce and ultimately accumulate wealth for investment. The Protestant ethic was therefore the driving force behind the mass action that led to the development of capitalism (the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, 2016).

Weber argues that religious beliefs contributed to major social change- specifically the emergence of modern capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Modern capitalism differs from capitalism as it is based on systematic, efficient and a rational pursuit of profit and profit for its own sake rather than consumption. Weber calls this the spirit of capitalism.

As seen throughout the semester, the debates surrounding capitalism and its role in society are extensive and transcends generations. By virtue of the nature of debates, two broad positions on capitalism evolved in North American Protestantism – one position defends capitalism while the other protests capitalism. The defense of capitalism developed in the 19th century. Being one of the many authors to do so, Charles Sellers attributes the development of capitalism to the Market and Industrial Revolution (Sellers, 21). Consequently, the Second Great Awakening increased religious awareness and significance in the daily lives of Americans (Sellers, 202). Sellers argues it was only through religion that Americans could cope with the stresses of

So we can understand this we have to go back in history, we need to look for the eternal relationship between capitalism and religion. There are assumption that capitalist blossomed around the same time as enlightenment of the eighteenth century. In fact, the church of the middle ages was the main source for the first sign of capitalism. The church was the first to set the rule of law, a bureaucracy system and many more concepts that our modern society is following today. The church owned nearly a third of all land in Europe, so the church had to create a strong system to manage all of these holdings. These strong systems helped in achieving great result as the technological discoveries. Therefor, the growth of capitalism was a source of the improvement in our society today. But not a lot people like to be ruled by the church and because if something goes beyond the person mean it will just create chaos and interruption. Thus, all of this created segregation in classes, and definition of certain classes no longer fit. Therefor the first settlers ran away from all these rules and seek refuge in the new land. They were looking for a new meaning of life, beyond what church has instructed. Even after establishing a new society in the new land, the American still struggled and had conflict over class

Weber also works off of Marx’s theories, far more than Durkheim appeared to. In the major instance, he takes Marx’s super-sub structure notion, flips it upside down, and molds it to his own theories. Marx hypothesized the economy to be the base of all society; Weber, on the other hand, conceived religion as being the base to shape the rest of society and theorized as such in The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism, where business and religion are viewed as strongly correlated.

As per Weber, “the principal explanation of this difference must be sought in the permanent intrinsic character of their religious beliefs, and not only in their temporary external historico-political situations.” Weber identified Lutheranism and Calvinism as being crucial to the development of modern capitalism, with a strong emphasis on Calvinism’s role in this development. On one hand, Luther stated the importance of “the calling” in Protestantism, which suggests that religious duty is synonymous with earning a living, and that making money is an end in itself. However, Calvin brings in the idea of predestination, suggesting that God already knows whose souls will be saved and whose souls would not be saved. To cope with the “salvation anxiety” that arose from this contradiction, Protestants believed that the most obvious way in which they could tell whether or not they were saved was by succeeding in their worldly duties through a strong work ethic. Weber discovered that essential to this work ethic is hard work, self-control, discipline, and austerity. He ultimately referred to this Protestant belief as the “spirit of capitalism” – a way of living that puts economic success and religious purity at the forefront of everyday societal practices, coupled with a strong belief that work and work ethic is strongly connected

Capitalism is an economic system in a society in which private owners control industry and trade within a country, rather than the state. Both Karl Marx and Max Weber, have written theories on how this system develops in countries and creates a nation state that is characterised by production and wealth. Marx’s theory takes more of a top-down approach, suggesting that people have little power in how their society is run. On the other hand, Weber’s bottom-up approach demonstrates how people have the ability to initiate capitalism and change their society. Marx’s theory of historical materialism is based on a 5-stage system inevitable of any society, Weber’s theory of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism states that it was a much smaller group within a feudal society whose religiosity inadvertently kick-started capitalism. Although both these theories look at how capitalism develops within a society, Marx’s macro-scale theory is more applicable to every society, unlike Weber’s micro-scale approach that focuses on one group within society and their ‘spirit of capitalism’. Naturally, the theories vary due to the time of writing and the economic or political situation. Marx wrote of historical materialism during a German economic crisis, whereas Weber wrote his theory a generation after, seeing the economy develop and stabilise. This impacted the message they were portraying and influenced two opposing theories.

I believe the Protestants felt that they had agency to serve God in a way that made them feel useful to society, which also helped them justify their wealth. Through the whole structure of work and profit they were able to express their talents to the world as well as God (Sewell pg. 20). I feel that these tie into the structure for capitalism which I believe sprang from the thought process that if you work hard you will receive wealth and in turn will allow you to gain material resources. Today, we work hard for a living to provide for our loved ones and ourselves. I feel in comparison to the Protestants, we have lost our sense of direction towards working in the glorification of God to working for money and

Weber argued that the spirit of capitalism lay behind the unplanned growth of it in the 19th century. He defined this spirit as the belief in pursuing an ever increasing profit from economic activity, intolerance of greed, but encouragement to hard work in order to invest in and make profits. In other words, capitalists should refrain from living luxuriously while always prioritizing work. Max Weber also believed that this spirit developed directly from acetic Protestantism. Simple beliefs of acetic Protestantism require that people renounce physical pleasures and comfort in the pursuit of greater spiritual fulfillment. Weber considered Protestantism ideology as a sort of calling to the notion that humans have one task set forth by God and to prove one's faith to God, one must be working at it. Weber also focused on capitalism's relation to Calvinism, which is a branch of Protestantism. Calvinism held onto to the belief that whether someone would go to heaven or hell was predestined by earning the status of having greater wealth (Max Weber, Intellectual Influences & Core Ideas, 10-24-16). Followers could thus convince themselves that they were destined for salvation. For example, if two boys named Ben and Mike each decided to set up their own lemonade stands, start with three dollars which they use to buy three jugs of lemonade. Each jug of lemonade sells for a total of two dollars meaning both boys have made a profit of three dollars. What should they do with their earnings? They can reinvest their profits to buy more jugs of lemonade expanding their business or they should spend the money on candy. Mike realizes that if he buys candy for a dollar, he's not sacrificing one jug of lemonade but thousands of jugs. He decides to reinvest the money into his

Capitalism started up as a system of investing and sharing money in order to increase the value of resources in the future. Capitalism was just an economic system, but then soon turned into a complex system of ethical practices. Harari defines capitalism as, “a set of teachings about how people should behave, educate their children and even think” (Harari 314). This economic system evolved along with the people that were endorsing it. Capitalism enables the rich to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. There are many benefits to capitalism, but there are downfalls as well, and these downfalls tend to be masked because of the rapid speed capitalists grow at. Harari first presents a definition for capitalism, and soon goes into great detail on why capitalism, while fast paced and unforgiving, is able to stand unwavered while other productions fail.

The reason that society obtained a rational form of capitalism was through the inner-worldly asceticism of the Protestant ethic. In the advent of the Reformation (The calling) and Calvinism (Predestination), concepts such as the calling and predestination applied reason and brought religious significance to one's work. If the calling is one's particular occupation, then one must work whole-heartedly to attain a state of grace. People are predestined and cannot be brought to their fate by force. They are prepared to do what they have been predestined for. This religious aestheticism left the monasteries to dominate the world. Here, the base of the mode of production is morality (religion). Unlike Catholicism, Protestantism reflects an individuality or loneliness in which the relationship with God is direct and not mediated through a priest. Therefore, each person is on his/her own, and the degradation of the flesh is feared because it indicates that one is not in a state of grace. Capital is no longer accumulated to possess pleasurable delights, but to attain holiness and rigor in one's life. So instead of capital being squandered on life's pleasures, capital could be

Weber theorizes the origin of modern capitalist. In order to know where and when does modern capitalism is developed and why? He mentioned that modern capitalist is characterized by free market and capital resources. Where there is no monopoly or market restrictions. Where competition is the determinant of price. That is

One expects Weber to Capitalism is a result of Protestantism or to be more specific, Calvinism. Calvinism believes God has granted few with salvation whereas others have to go through damnation. This virtue isn't dependent on their good or bad actions/ deeds but because God wanted it in a certain way. This belief made believers of Calvinism worried about their salvation and made them invest more efforts into economic success. This, in turn, made them believe that they were the chosen favourites of God. Furthermore, the profits made by Calvanists were re-invested into the business for further profits rather than self-indulgence. Hence, the concept of "Protestant ethic" came into place which generally refers to desire of having enormous economic success and will of working hard. This concept of "work ethic"

Max Weber believed Protestants compared to Catholics were more likely to hold business occupations based on the observation; that the capitalist structure rose alongside with Protestant reformation. This meant there was a direct positive correlation between capitalism and Protestantism. Because Protestants believe working hard here on Earth will secure them a position in Heaven; this leads to capitalism. I can see the connection Weber made, because religion is usually central to one’s life, it would be a primary motivator for working hard because of the idea of life after death. So I, for example, will work hard and strive to be the best person I can be, in order to be allowed entrance into heaven. The protestant reformation lead to new innovations such as the printing press. Religion could be seen as a factor that pushed this technological advancement because Protestants were now able to build an interpersonal relationship with God while also being able to interpret the bible for themselves.

Q19) Answer, Protestant Ethic Pg. 13 Def.- Protestant ethic, in a sociological theory, the value attached to hard work, thrift, and efficiency in one’s calling, especially in the Calvinist view, were deemed signs of an individual’s election, or eternal salvation. German sociologist Max Weber, in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism held that the Protestant ethic was an important factor in the economic success of groups in the early stages of European capitalism because worldly success could be interpreted as a sign of eternal salvation, it was vigorously pursued. Calvinism’s antipathy to the worship of the flesh, its emphasis on the religious duty to make good use of the given resources at each individual’s disposal, and its orderliness and systemization of ways of life were also regarded by Weber as economically significant aspects of the ethic. Before given their lives to this to the many people who just refuse to leave them. It 's their way of life to help people and it will continue to help people for as long as one person believes in it it will continue to strive it will never be forgotten and it will help and help and help us until the end of time for all time. This all ties into religion and hope because hope burns brighter than anything we can imagine. The core values of others can also help them they all have beliefs that can help and give aid. They can influence others to help spread joy, love, peace,