Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic Essay Example

In Max Weber’s quest to explain his observations of the major social and economic changes he was subject to throughout his life from 1864 to 1920, the importance of rationalization in modernity was emphasised. For Weber his personal focus on the coming of modernity begins with the industrial revolution of the late 18th century. Weber’s thesis explaining ‘the emergence of modern capitalism would thus be an explanation of modernity’ (Collins and Makowsky 2005: 121). Weber attributed ‘the Protestant ethic’, in particular the Calvinism strain of Protestantism as a fundamental requirement for the emergence of the ‘spirit of capitalism’. For it were the individualistic, systematic and rationalised conduct and values of the protestant ethic that harboured the attitude needed to create economic success and ultimately the success of the industrial revolution. The concept of rationalization was thus the result of the protestant work ethic and attributed to the new modern economy itself. In this context rationalisation means the elimination of magic as a means to salvation, replaced with constant self control and rational calculation. This essay will firstly explore the development of the protestant ethic, in particular the Calvinist strain, before relating the ethic to the emergence of the process of rationalization and how this influenced the economic and social sphere of life. Finally Weber attributed the process of rationalization and ultimately the success of the industrial revolution as the result of ‘the Protestant ethic’, in particular the work ethic that had developed from the religious concept of the ‘calling’ and the doctrine of pre destination.
The emphasis on individual fulfilment of worldly obligations combined with a moral justification is a common doctrine theme of Protestantism after the reformation. ‘Every day worldly activity was given a religious significance, and which first created the conception of a calling’ (Weber 1998: 80). This idea of a