Protestant Ethic

Conceptual Overview

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is fundamentally about the constitution of the subject in modern capitalism, in particular how behavior and a set of values (self-discipline, hard work, honesty, innovation, saving, and the prudent use of time that together gave rise to the Protestant ethic) that are religiously motivated played a significant role in the emergence of capitalism as we know it. Psychological research has sought to examine the impact of these values on contemporary attitudes and work behavior. The overriding emphasis in this literature is a concern with the acceptance of personal responsibility and the impact of this on work and life outcomes. Though Weber strongly emphasized that the primary and basic unit of investigation must always be the individual, he also stressed that this methodological individualism was distinct from psychological work, which focuses on individuals' mental states. From Weber's point of view, to understand people's motives, one must also study and understand the institutions within which individuals act. With regard to the Protestant ethic, Weber was concerned to investigate not how the spirit of capitalism originated in solitary and separate individuals, but how it emerged as a way of living common to groups of people. From this perspective, each individual is viewed as a carrier of a culture.

Interpretations of Weber's thesis on the set of values that provided modern capitalism with its ethical underpinning are often presented through the lens of the perceived “central interest” in Weber's work. The development of Western rationalism has been identified as this central interest. However, both Hennis and Gordon question this, arguing for the need to reformulate our understanding of Weber's interest in the rationalization process. Specifically, it is suggested that the rationalization of Lebensfuhrung is Weber's central concern. According to Hennis, Weber was quite clear in specifying that his analysis was mainly focused on the development of an ethical lifestyle adequate to emergent modern capitalism. In other words, Weber was interested in the emergence and development of a Lebensfuhrung, which made modern capitalism possible, focusing on the relationship between a particular type of individual and a particular form of social order. [Page 1322]Further, he sought to give specific consideration to the question of how and under what political and social conditions did a specific Lebensfuhrung emerge, which went against the prevailing ethic. A key question for Weber was how did a way of life evolve that changed society.

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