The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

by Max Weber

Overview

This brilliant study opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through the conflict of opposites. Instead, Weber relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds — an effort that ultimately encouraged capitalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486427034
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	04/04/2003
Series:	Dover Value Editions Series
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.19(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

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

Table of Contents

Introduction by Stephen Kalberg

Translator's Preface by Stephen Kalberg

Glossary

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Part I. The Problem

1. Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification

2. The Spirit of Capitalism

3. Luther's Conception of the Calling

a. Task of the Investigation

Part II. The Vocational Calling of Ascetic Protestantism

4. The Religious Foundations of This-Worldly Asceticism

a. Calvinism

b. Pietism

c. Methodism

d. The Baptizing Sects: The Quakers, Baptists, and Mennonites

5. Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism

"The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism"

Prefatory Remarks to Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion

Editorial Reviews

Max Weber is the one undisputed canonical figure in contemporary sociology.

Times Higher Education Supplement

Arguing that classic works should be translated every generation, and that the essay here was last translated into English some 70 years ago, Kalberg (sociology, Boston U.) strives to make the text accessible to undergraduates and general readers and to retain the integrity of the work with a close-to-the-text translation. In addition to the essay itself, which was published in a two parts in a social science journal in 1904-05, he has included two related documents by Weber (1864-1920). Cited in . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'Ought to be a set text for the No Logo fan club.' - Steven Poole, Guardian

From the Publisher