{"id":78290,"date":"2022-08-30T17:23:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T21:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=78290"},"modified":"2022-09-09T10:41:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T14:41:01","slug":"weber-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/weber-capitalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Weber: Capitalism Arose From the Protestant Ethic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s Max Weber’s theory about the origins of capitalism<\/a>? How does it compare to Karl Marx’s theory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Max Weber, capitalism became a global economy because of the work ethic of Protestants in America and western Europe. This is the argument he presents in his classic work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn more about Weber’s theory about the rise of capitalism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Weber\u2019s Question: Why Are Protestants Distinctly Prosperous?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Writing from Germany at the turn of the 20th century, Weber observes that, in western Europe and America, most business owners and skilled workers were Protestants.<\/strong> While this effect wasn\u2019t universal, it was prominent amongst Protestants in the Netherlands, England, and the United States, and to a lesser extent in Germany and France. In contrast, Weber says, Catholics were often less focused on financial success<\/a> and were less prosperous overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Weber originally published The Protestant Ethic <\/em>in two parts. Part 1 was published prior to his landmark 1904 trip to the United States<\/a>, whereas Part 2 was published afterward. Scholars generally agree that Weber\u2019s trip influenced his thought in major ways, so it\u2019s likely that his emphasis on American Protestantism is no accident.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Weber, capitalism’s origins must be examined in the context of Protestantism since most wealth in America and western Europe belonged to Protestants. Upon his observation, Weber asks whether<\/em> and to what extent<\/em> Protestantism contributed to the development of capitalism. He argues that, if Protestants make good capitalists today, something about their beliefs and <\/em>way of life must be conducive to capitalism. To understand this, we must look at the history of Protestantism and capitalism to see how they relate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weber\u2019s New Sociological Methods<\/strong>

Since sociology wasn\u2019t yet an established field at Weber\u2019s time, he had to pioneer techniques for his work. Two key concepts he created are \u201cobjective possibility\u201d and \u201cadequate causation.<\/a>\u201d He used these concepts to explain how he reasoned out causal explanations that were logically plausible (the former term) and likely enough<\/em> to be true (the latter term). The idea is that in the social sciences, it\u2019s difficult to find clear cause-and-effect explanations for complex phenomena such as the onset of capitalism\u2014so Weber created criteria that enabled him to find answers that were good enough<\/em>.

\u201cObjective possibility\u201d<\/strong> allowed him to argue for the plausibility of a phenomenon such as the Protestant ethic, which isn\u2019t observable in the way that gravity or ocean currents are. 

\u201cAdequate causation\u201d<\/strong> allowed him to make a reasonable enough argument for such a phenomenon without having exact, precise evidence for it.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Weber\u2019s Answer: Protestantism Is Conducive to Commercial Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Weber\u2019s answer to this problem is complex, he essentially asserts that, yes, Protestantism did influence the rise of capitalism<\/strong>. Specifically, the Protestant ethic<\/em>, or way of life, <\/em>shaped the capitalist lifestyle that prevailed by the 19th and 20th centuries. He explains each of these two concepts as follows:   <\/p>\n\n\n\n