Sociology

The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism 

Protestant Ethic

Protestant ethic, in sociological theory, the value attached to hard work, thrift, and efficiency in one’s worldly calling, which, especially in the Calvinist view, were deemed signs of an individual’s election or eternal salvation.

Spirit of Capitalism

The spirit of capitalism is a historical individual, i.e., a complex of elements associated with historical reality, which we unite into a conceptual whole from the standpoint of their cultural significance.

Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism 

Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism is a study of the relationship between the ethics of ascetic Protestantism and the emergence of the spirit of modern capitalism. Weber argues that the religious ideas of groups such as the Calvinists played a role in creating the capitalistic spirit.

Weber first observes a correlation between being Protestant and being involved in business and declares his intent to explore religion as a potential cause of the modern economic conditions. He argues that the modern spirit of capitalism sees profit as an end in itself and pursuing profit as virtuous.

Weber’s goal is to understand the source of this spirit. He turns to Protestantism for a potential explanation. Protestantism offers a concept of the worldly “calling” and gives the worldly activity a religious character. While important, this alone cannot explain the need to pursue profit. One branch of Protestantism, Calvinism, does provide this explanation. Calvinists believe in predestination and that God has already determined who is saved and damned. As Calvinism developed, a deep psychological need for clues about whether one was actually saved arose, and Calvinists looked to their success in worldly activity for those clues.

Thus, they came to value profit and material success as signs of God’s favour. Other religious groups, such as the Pietists, Methodists, and the Baptist sects, had similar attitudes to a lesser degree. Weber argues that this new attitude broke down the traditional economic system, paving the way for modern capitalism. However, once capitalism emerged, the Protestant values were no longer necessary, and their ethic took on a life of their own. We are now locked into the spirit of capitalism because it is so helpful for modern economic activity.