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Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism

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Weber and Durkheim together comprise of an enormous part of historical and sociological traditions. Both sociologist offer very different perspectives and contributions to sociological theory, but both have tried to make a statement about the problems related to the dawn of modernity and capitalism. One of the main issues that developed within modernity is how much religion factors into a society that continues to nestle on the fundamentals of rationalism. The origin of religion has been increasingly questioned by sociologists, and Weber and Durkheim try to tackle the idea of a culture moving towards a mass non-believing secular society and the effect this had on contemporary society which was structured around religion and there concerns regarding …show more content…

The combination of disciplined and reformed Calvinists, alongside developments in technologies that assisted capitalism permitted capitalism to flourish in Europe and spread to America. Weber examines correlations between being Protestant and having a line of work or influence in business. It is through this line of work when Weber affirms his commitment to exploring religion as a potential cause of the contemporary capitalist conditions. The essence of capitalism perceives profit as an end in itself, meaning a profitable lifestyle would be deemed virtuous. To understand this weber examines Protestantism for a potential explanation. One particular branch of Protestantism is what Weber focuses on, Calvinism, and it is during this study which provides Weber with some explanations (McKinnon, AM. 2010). It is the belief in predestination for Calvinists, that God has already determined who is saved and who is not, that interested Weber the most. Over time, Calvinism began to question their existence and developed a need for answers about whether they would be saved or not. The success criteria were based upon worldly activities and how much Calvinists has participated in a way that was beneficial. It was the idea of success and benefitting which led the Calvinists to believe that material luxuries and profit are marks of God's support. This attitude towards individualism and self-gain broke down the traditional commercial systems and buying and selling, shaping a modern capitalist society. The emergence of capitalism intertwined with the Protestant values making them completely unnecessary. The ethics of this value system have now taken on a huge role in the society we know and live in and we seem to be

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