Weber, Passion And Profits: 'the Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism' In Context
by Jack Barbalet /
2008 / English / PDF
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Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is
one of the best-known and most enduring texts of classical
sociology, continually inspirational and widely read by both
scholars and students. In an insightful interpretation, Jack
Barbalet discloses that Weber's work is not simply about the
cultural origins of capitalism but an allegory concerning the
Germany of his day. Situating The Protestant Ethic in the
development of Weber's prior and subsequent writing, Barbalet
traces changes in his understanding of key concepts including
'calling' and 'rationality'. In a close analysis of the ethical
underpinnings of the capitalist spirit and of the institutional
structure of capitalism, Barbalet identifies continuities between
Weber and the eighteenth-century founder of economic science, Adam
Smith, as well as Weber's contemporary, the American firebrand
Thorstein Veblen. Finally, by considering Weber's investigation of
Judaism and capitalism, important aspects of his account of
Protestantism and capitalism are revealed.
Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is
one of the best-known and most enduring texts of classical
sociology, continually inspirational and widely read by both
scholars and students. In an insightful interpretation, Jack
Barbalet discloses that Weber's work is not simply about the
cultural origins of capitalism but an allegory concerning the
Germany of his day. Situating The Protestant Ethic in the
development of Weber's prior and subsequent writing, Barbalet
traces changes in his understanding of key concepts including
'calling' and 'rationality'. In a close analysis of the ethical
underpinnings of the capitalist spirit and of the institutional
structure of capitalism, Barbalet identifies continuities between
Weber and the eighteenth-century founder of economic science, Adam
Smith, as well as Weber's contemporary, the American firebrand
Thorstein Veblen. Finally, by considering Weber's investigation of
Judaism and capitalism, important aspects of his account of
Protestantism and capitalism are revealed.