The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism - Softcover

Weber, Max

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1621380939 ISBN 13: 9781621380931

Publisher: Angelico Press, 2014

Synopsis

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is Max Weber’s groundbreaking study of the psychological and spiritual conditions that allowed for the development of capitalist culture. Weber’s thesis takes off from startling twin reversals. First, in a reversal of the Marxian thesis that material conditions form the basis for “states of mind,” Weber asserts that it is these very mental conditions and associated cultural values that shaped the capitalist world and the human quest for prosperity. More specifically, Weber’s insight is that the belief in the moral value of work, encouraged by Calvinist strains of Protestantism, fostered a this-worldly asceticism -- reversing and supplanting the medieval monastic ideal of an other-worldly asceticism. Thus grew, in early modern England and Northern Europe, a new attitude toward the fulfillment of worldly duties --baptizing, as it were, what would become the unapologetic pursuit of wealth. As a trenchant and still controversial analysis of how the historical phases of Christianity have conditioned the ethical, political, economic, and social lives of the peoples of the West -- and, later, the world -- Weber’s work continues to be a touchstone for the ongoing debate on the origins of capitalism and the future course of economic history.

About this title

From the Back Cover

'One of the most renowned and controversial works of modern social science.' - Anthony Giddens

Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism', first published in 1904, remains to this day a powerful and fascinating read. Weber's highly accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the Protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the West. Widely considered as the most informed work ever written on the social effects of advanced capitalism, 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism' holds its own as one of the most significant books of the twentieth century. The book is one of those rare works of scholarship which no informed citizen can afford to ignore.

Max Weber (1864-1920). One of the founding fathers of modern sociology.

About the Author

Max Weber (1864-1920). One of the founding fathers of modern sociology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Angelico Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1621380939
• ISBN 13: 9781621380931
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198