The term Protestant ethic was coined by the ­German economist and sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). Max Weber’s methodology focused on the identification of historical circumstances and developments that affect the behavior of people. He was adamant that this must be exercised without any value judgment. His empirical approach to social history allowed Weber to link social systems and structures with a characteristic mentality of society. He formulated the sociological thesis that economic systems are based on certain social characteristics that might have their foundation in religious thought.

Max Weber published Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) in 1904. He based the emergence of the structures of capital ownership and the entrepreneurial class on historical developments, as ...