The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism
By: Max Weber ; translated by Talcott Parsons ; introd. by Anthony Giddens.
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 1976
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng; ger
Number of pages: 292
Subjects: Religion and sociology.; Christian ethics.; Capitalism.; Economics -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Protestantism.
Work titles: Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus.
Description: The Protestant ethic -- a moral code stressing hard work, rigorous self-discipline, and the organization of one's life in the service of God -- was made famous by sociologist and political economist Max Weber. In this brilliant study (his best-known and most controversial), he opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through "the struggle of opposites." Instead, he relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds -- an effort that ultimately discouraged belief in predestination and encouraged capitalism. Weber's classic study has long been required reading in college and advanced high school social studies classrooms.
Notes: Translation of Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus.

Includes bibliographical references and index.