Max Weber: Religious Ideals and the Capitalist Society

Max Weber was a twentieth-century sociologist whose doctrines on capitalism and religion significantly contrasted with the established socialist ideals set forth by his predecessor, Karl Marx. To communicate his theories, Weber created the concept of an ideal type, or the reduction of generalized traits that large groups of people possess into a sole representation. Weber favored entities that were rational in nature: rational music, rational personality traits, rational timeframes (e.g., the Industrial Revolution), and rational governing principles served as the foundation within each of his models. One of Weber's most significant contributions was captured in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” which focused on the belief that the integration of hard work and an abstemious frame of mind were indicators of a favorable, predestined outlook. Hence, the "Puritan work ethic," which initially served to infuse Calvinists with the belief that they were headed for eternal salvation, was coupled to a modern capitalist framework.

Keywords Asceticism; Bureaucracy; Calvinism; Capitalism; Charismatic Domination; Ideal Type; Patrimonialism; Predestination; Rationalization

Max Weber: Religious Ideals & the Capitalist Society

Overview

Max Weber was a German sociologist who generated thought-provoking analyses on politics, religion, and economics (Andreski, 1983; Bendix, 1960; Collins, 1986; Holton & Turner, 1989; Miller, 1963; Mitzman, 1969; Poggi, 1983; Swedberg, 1998; Turner, 2000). Weber wrote extensively on world religions and touched upon the fiscal elements that shaped their existence, including those in the East such as Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Hinduism (Bennion, 1992; Matin-Asgari, 2004; Zagoria, 1997), which he generally regarded as mystical and lacking in fundamental rationality. Conversely, in Western teachings, Weber valued the determination and diligence in Judaism (Fishman & Goldschmidt, 1990; Sacks, 1999), although he ruthlessly labeled the Jews as "pariah people" and thus only capable of achieving "pariah capitalism" (Barbalet, 2005; Derks, 1999; Momigliano, 1980). The emphasis of this article, however, surrounds the merger between capitalism and religion that was conveyed through The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, a thesis written in 1905 for which Weber received both reverence and denigration (Kaelber, 2002; Molnar, 1997; Stark, 1966; Whimster, 2007). This piece of work was written at the outset of what was considered to be Weber's "dark years," a six-year time span during which he sank into the depths of depression following the death of his father, and through which he was academically and professionally immobile.

The Ideal Type

Weber coined the phrase ideal type to refer to mutual traits surrounding actions, groups of people, or a social phenomenon (Bruun, 2001; Weinert, 1996; Zouboulakis, 2001). Regarding religion, the ideal type would apply to the prototypical Jew, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim within each faith. The ideal type is not representative of any actual person from each respective religion, per se, but symbolizes the generalized essence that people collectively possess by narrowing down essential traits into a singular composite figure. Counterintuitive to its namesake, an ideal type does not signify a supreme, upright, and honorable archetype; ideal types also exist to represent roles that are scandalous in nature, as demonstrated by ideal types that correspond with the thief, the prostitute, and the drug addict. Nevertheless, the ideal type is rational, in that it harnesses a person's fundamental group attributes into a linear framework, which can help dictate behavioral norms across various situations. The ideal type provides a paradigm for people to structure behavior with lucid precision, because in actuality, life is muddled and unsystematic, and the ideal type functions as a semblance of consistency that enables people to navigate through a sea of disorganization. Weber illustrates the importance of upholding an ideal type:

To understand how a war is conducted, it is necessary to imagine an ideal commander-in-chief for each side-even though not explicitly or in detailed form. Each of these commanders must know the total fighting resources of each side and all the possibilities arising there-from of attaining the concretely unambiguous goal, namely, the destruction of the enemy's military power. On the basis of this knowledge, they must act entirely without error and in a logically "perfect" way. For only then can the consequences of the fact that the real commanders neither had the knowledge nor were they free from error, and that they were not purely rational thinking machines, be unambiguously established (as cited in Sadri, 1992, p. 6).

Rationalization

Of tremendous importance is Weber's notion of rationalization (Oakes, 2003; Cockerham, Abel & Luschen, 1993; Wallace, 1990; Wilson, 2002), a concept that he consistently wove into his theories, which, depending on contextual forces surrounding the reference, may bear a slightly different meaning. For example, he specifies artistic components that differentiate "rational" vs. "irrational" music (Feher, 1987), in addition to endorsing rationality as a dominant and indispensable cornerstone within society. Features defining that which is rational include consistency; action-oriented behavior; predictable, systematic, and directional outcomes; the exertion of willpower; and the exclusion of magical or superstitious ideologies (Angus, 1983). Weber felt that as each of the world religions adopted more rational characteristics, they inherently became more distinct from each other, since the process of rationalization entails the refinement of systematic rules and regulations that constitute group identity, and which erect distinguishing mechanisms that are discordant from counter religions. Thus, intrareligious rationality equates with interreligious conflict. Additionally, Weber surmised that the tenets of rational religion also conflict with other established groups, such as the "family" group. This is evidenced, in part, by provisional stipulations among reputable religious roles (e.g., monks & priests) that are expected to bypass sexual and procreative desires in order to channel their energies into religious conviction.

Disenchantment

During the time frame in which Weber proposed many of his theories, all of Europe was undergoing tremendous economic transition, which served as a platform for him to compare different societal underpinnings. In particular, he determined that traditional societies (Inglehart & Baker, 2000) were those that were drawn to sentimental and romanticized notions of established, time-honored routines, which tended to be habitual norms passed continually throughout the generations. Weber favored the lifestyle and progressive nature of rational cultures, which utilized innovative technological advancements, logic, and intellectually sound standards of modality. The process of transitioning from a traditional society to that which is rational includes a period of disenchantment (MacKinnon, 2001; Schroeder, 1995), from which one distances oneself from sentimentality and familiar patterns.

The Industrial Revolution

Additionally, the rise of the Industrial Revolution (Knox & Schacht, 2008; Mastel, 2008) was another societal trend that Weber cited as a rational period in time, and the innovative norms that emerged during the Industrial Revolution ameliorated the incorporation of rationality into his theoretical models. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, families thrived based on the abundance of agricultural products from the farm. The pre-industrial era consisted of a collectivist society, in that individual ambitions and desires were deemed secondary to family demands, and enmeshed personal and professional family investments were expressed through the long hours of labor extended toward the farms on which they resided. In this period, the continuation of the family rested on an ability for equitable collaboration toward mutual farm-related commodities.

Industrialization, which began in the late eighteenth century and accelerated throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, relied on the advent of technological, factory-oriented machinery, brought about the eventual arrival of mechanized transportation, and introduced mandatory regulations that required children to receive education outside of the home. These innovations commanded that parents separate from each other throughout the workday in order to engage in individual work responsibilities, with offsite supervisory standards serving to regulate behavior (e.g., job duties, hours of operation), while the children studied a formalized curriculum at neighborhood schoolhouses. Weber viewed such a societal shift as rational and as a contribution to capitalistic ideals.

Power & Leadership

Weber published extensively on the concept of power and elaborated on three categorical forces that defined the utilization of leadership:

• Legal domination,

• Traditional domination, and

• Charismatic domination (Pfaff, 2002; Poggi, 1988; Steffek, 2003; Thomas, 1984).

According to Weber, legal domination was the most favorable means of upholding rational thinking, which is a condition that allows for the development of bureaucratic designs. A bureaucracy (Gale & Hummel, 2003; Kalberg, 1993) is the organizational hierarchy that sanctions productive output, which can be easily witnessed in large-scale procedural structures such as governmental or militaristic institutions. Weber emphasized how power differentials naturally constitute bureaucracies in terms of the "enforcer" and his or her corresponding "subordinates," although the latter adheres to the provisional standards and administration of the organization, as opposed to the actual person in charge. The bureaucrat, or authority figure, is a person who has achieved such a position through the refinement of educational and professional application. Once he or she secures this position of power, he or she is able to reside there indefinitely and receive resultant benefits such as a stable, continuous salary.

In contrast, Weber illustrates the nature of traditional domination as an irrational system that can be demonstrated in part through a subcategory termed patrimonialism (Eisenberg, 1998; Stone, 1995), which is the loyalty that subjects extend toward an authoritative ruling power. In such circumstances, subordinates respond to the dictatorship of the person as opposed to the generalized set of rules set forth by an organization. As such, the patrimonial leader is the primary source of both power and economic funding, which enables the perpetuation of such an organization. In many societies, such as caste cultures, patrimonialism is a birthright, not a role that can be strived for or achieved by the lay public.

The third type of power, charismatic domination is expressed in families and/or organized religion, and leadership results from the dynamic and captivating traits that the leader possesses; therefore power, to some extent is something that can be earned. Also, over time, subordinates of charismatic domination rise from their inferior status, because the process of routine contributes toward equalizing the hierarchy.

Applications

The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism

Weber found that there were communal behavioral patterns among geographical regions that embraced different religious beliefs. In particular, Weber reasoned that areas that accepted Catholicism as the predominant religion consisted of affiliates who were educationally and professionally complacent since the Catholic religion professed that spiritual enlightenment was internal and could not be obtained through worldly, material gain. Such observations inspired Weber to write one of his most prolific and controversial documents, titled The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1930), in which he intertwined two of his passions, economics and religion, into a consolidated theory. Weber reflected on the rational advancements that corresponded with the Calvinists, or Puritan denominational sect of Protestant Christianity, and speculated on the diligent work ethic and monetary strides that paralleled this religious faction.

Calvinism & Predestination

One of the hallmarks of Calvinism was the notion of predestination (Sass, 1991; Spencer, 1982), or the belief that a person's fate has been scripted before birth, which included his or her earthbound deeds as well as eventual placement in the afterlife. According to this premise, a person's conduct held no bearing on his or her elect (i.e., saved) or damned status. Proponents of this ideology felt that it was unnerving to anticipate an unknown, and possibly torturous, destination point and determined that the primary indicator specifying where the soul would eventually reside rested on the fruitful and lucrative accomplishments of their vocational pursuits. In other words, the ideal type of a person who was spiritually saved was one who was industrious, productive, and conscientious. He or she who refused to capitalize on his or her God-given skills was negligently corrupt:

If God show you a way in which you may lawfully get more than in another way (without wrong to your soul or to any other), if you refuse this, and choose the less gainful way, you cross one of the ends of your calling, and you refuse to be God's steward (Weber, 1930, p. 59).

Of course, the irony of such a pact was that the orchestration of such output could not influence the future placement of one's soul under the auspices of predestination. Hence, an industrious, fruitful life allowed people to placate corresponding levels of anxiety that accompanied an unknown fate. In other words, the painstaking efforts they extended toward work-related endeavors were not an attempt to appear favorable in the eyes of God, who had already undergone the selection process, but the psychological conviction that alleviated high levels of trepidation. Weber theorized that the energy connected with the laborious efforts put forth by sanctimonious, God-fearing Calvinists was a manifestation of their fear that indolence equated with damnation.

Asceticism

The term Weber used to convey the obligation toward a sober, steadfast, and relentlessly constructive life was asceticism (Arnold, 2005; Mulyadi, 2006). The ascetic were those who fully engaged in their calling, or vocational pursuits that utilized their skill sets, capabilities, and abilities for production, regardless of the mundane, insignificant, or toilsome nature of such tasks. An ostentatious or indulgent disposition did not correspond with the ascetic's daily life, nor did laziness, spontaneity, or procrastination. "Idle hands are the devil's workshop" is a suitable adage that fit the ascetic's adherence to time, which consequently affected his or her ability for social restraint, orderliness, and above all, a strong work ethic. Additionally, the Puritan code of ethics imparted equitable, honest business transactions, as well as a tendency toward financial conservation or reinvesting monies into valuable domains; frivolous extravagance was highly shunned (Runciman, 2005).

Interpersonally, the ascetic was courteous and respectful, while simultaneously maintaining an emotionally detached distance from those in his or her midst, since not only was he or she uncertain of his or her own destiny, but was also doubtful of those in his or her surrounding. As such, it was detrimental to form intimate attachments with family members, neighbors, or work associates in the chance that they were of the ill-fated, damned classification. Moreover, as opposed to early Christianity's interaction with esoteric, numinous acts (Acikel, 2006; Scribner, 1993), such as "turning water into wine," the ascetic Calvinist shed himself of any remnants of ceremonial rituals and mysticism.

Through nonflamboyant, hard-working measures, the Calvinists naturally led ample and prosperous standards of living. As such, Weber equated middle-class, capitalist lifestyles as verifiable traits of elect souls who were saved from eternal damnation. The unlucky, who found themselves destitute and in the throes of poverty, were representations of the damned, and Calvinists avoided interacting with underprivileged groups in order to dissociate from those who were spiritually disparaged.

The choice occupations for most Calvinists were those related to business endeavors. Agricultural jobs were seasonally inconsistent, in that there were patterned times to productively labor in the fields, which made it difficult to steadily express devotion toward work-related efficiency. Likewise, at the time, both military and politically oriented positions were deemed opulent, whereas the goal of Puritan fervor related to grueling efforts that yielded middle-ground bourgeois.

The Religion of Capitalism

It is essential to point out that Weber disapproved the notion that capitalism reinforced negative traits such as greed, because he thought that humankind was naturally prone toward such a disposition. Nor did he unite capitalism and self-serving materialism in tandem, since affluent abundance was a coincidental offshoot of capitalistic exertion. In fact, those whose diligence was fueled solely by profit, as opposed to religious dogmatism, were engaging in sinful aberrance, "you may labor to be rich for God, though not for the flesh and sin" (Weber, 1930, p. 59). Incidentally, over the course of time Weber predicted that the religious component associated with the capitalistic, Puritan work ethic would dissipate, and what would remain was a direct affiliation between capitalism and monetary attainment. During this futuristic era, Weber pessimistically surmised that people would be relegated to "iron cages" (Lackey, 1971; Tiryakian, 1981), in which there would be "specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart" (Weber, 1930, p. 68).

As passionate as Weber was toward upholding the legacy of Calvinism, he was cynical about the future outcome such values and behavioral customs would yield. He imagined people fulfilling their rote daily routines through uninspired, mechanistic means. Furthermore, Weber asserted that as Western civilization evolved into a secularized society (Fenn, 1969), people would replace religiosity as the sole source of professional motivation with materialistic, product-fueled goals, the bane of his theories.

Viewpoints

Modern scholars frequently compare contemporary sociological, economic, and religious affairs against that which Weber theorized in The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism. Wolfe (2007) suggests that the correlation between devout religiosity and financial success can be demonstrated by the economic and entrepreneurial prosperity of the twenty-first-century Mormon community. Likewise, Murove (2005) points to indigenous African civilizations that possess moral frameworks rooted in tradition as an underlying principle to explain failed attempts at inducing capitalism in such areas. Fukuyama (2005) notes the derived interpersonal benefits that the Protestant, or Puritan, work ethic has extended into contemporary society. More specifically, the strong work ethic that was upheld by those who were spiritually "enlightened" was all-consuming and transcended into the moral transactions between people and their communities, which had previously been demonstrated solely among family members, thereby forging a sense of societal trust among non-intimates.

Until the publication of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, one of the most renowned theories that broached the concepts of politics and religion was that which was proposed by Karl Marx. His premise, most frequently captured in the quote "religion is the opium of the people" (Kowalewski & Greil, 1990; Marx, 1844), juxtaposed Weber's supposition, in that it claims that religion serves to placate society, as opposed to motivate productivity. Also, Marx's emphasis on social conflict, or society's struggle to compete over shared resources, was the foundation for his eventual Communist Manifesto. Essentially, Marx encouraged the oppressed portion of society to overthrow those considered the oppressors in order to equalize gross power and monetary differentials. Marx asserted that such progress is naturally cyclical, since eventually the oppressed convert into the oppressors, and likewise again, need to be overthrown. A thorough understanding of Weber enables comprehensive insight into sociological matters, particularly when contrasting his theories with those of Karl Marx, an equally influential philosopher who held a diametrically divergent stance.

Conclusion

It is essential to understand the etiology of contemporary capitalist ideals, particularly the religious factor that Weber held in high regard, which has consequently been phased out of modern capitalism. Weber's morose outlook for the future has indisputably come to fruition, as some critics of capitalism associate such an economic system with perpetuating values solely revolving around individualistic financial attainment. Other maladies correlated with Weber's capitalistic ideals surround environmental concerns and consumption (Lodziak, 2000), as well as capitalistic pressures inciting psychological distress among college students (Kasser & Ryan, 1993) and the overall production of an inferior moral structure (Jordan, 1997). Furthermore, Weber's notion that capitalism eventually "reduces every worker to a cog in this bureaucratic machine" (Weber, 1978, p. 8) is certainly an expression that can be justified in contemporary society, as demonstrated by Western pressures for production, efficiency, and materialistic gain in lieu of quality-of-life and psychological welfare (Haight, 2001).

Terms & Concepts

Asceticism: Fulfilling the obligation toward a sober, steadfast, and relentlessly constructive life.

Bureaucracy: An organizational hierarchy that sanctions productive output, which can be easily witnessed in large-scale procedural structures such as governmental or militaristic institutions.

Calvinism: Calvinists, or the Puritan denominational sect of Protestant Christianity, possessed a diligent work ethic and abstemious lifestyles.

Ideal Type: The reduction of generalized traits that large groups of people possess into a sole representation.

Predestination: The belief that people's fates have been scripted before birth.

Rationalization: Features defining that which is rational include consistency; action-oriented behavior; predictable, systematic, and directional outcomes; the exertion of willpower; and the exclusion of magical or superstitious ideologies.

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Sacks, H. (1999). Max Weber's ancient Judaism. Theory, Culture, & Society, 16 , 31-39. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11546334&site=ehost-live

Sadri, A. (1994). Max Weber's Sociology of Intellectuals. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Schroeder, R. (1995). Disenchantment and its discontents: Weberian perspectives on science and technology. Sociological Review, 43 , ,227-250. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9505171480&site=ehost-live

Schmidt, V. H. (2011). Max Weber in light of East Asian development. Max Weber Studies, 11, 13-34. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=66338006

Scribner, R. W. (1993). The reformation, popular magic, and the "disenchantment of the world." Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 23 , 475-495. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9306225495&site=ehost-live

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Stark, W. (1966). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of sociology. Social Compass, 13 (5/6), 373-377. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14952734&site=ehost-live

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Steffek, J. (2003). The legitimating of international governance: A discourse approach. European Journal of International Relations, 9 , 249-275. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=10074503&site=ehost-live

Stone, J. (1995). Race, ethnicity, and the Weberian legacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 38 , 391-407. Retrieved April 10, 2007 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9501241603&site=ehost-live

Swedberg, R. (1998). Max Weber and the idea of economic sociology. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

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Turner, S. (2000). The Cambridge companion to Weber. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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Weber, M. (1930). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Weber, M. (1978). Economy and Society: An outline of Interpretive Sociology. G. Roth and C. Wittich, eds. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

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Whimster, S. (2007). The protestant ethic turns 100: Essays on the centenary of the Weber thesis. Max Weber Studies, 7 , 122-125. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25218915&site=ehost-live

Wilson, H. T. (2002). Rationality and capitalism in Max Weber's analysis of Western modernity. Journal of Classical Sociology, 2 , 93-106. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9773702&site=ehost-live

Wolfe, A. (2007). Mormons and money. New Republic, 237 , 22-25. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=28004918&site=ehost-live

Zagoria, D. (1997). The religions of China: Confucianism and Taoism/ The religions of India: The sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism. Foreign Affairs, 76 , 233-233. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9380618&site=ehost-live

Zouboulakis, M. S. (2001). From Mill to Weber: The meaning of the concept of economic rationality. European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 8 , 30-41. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from EBSCO online database Academic Search Premier, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5180497&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Camic, C., Gorski, P., & Trubek, D. (2005). Max Weber's economy and society: A critical companion. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Derman, J. (2012). The meaning of modern capitalism. In Max Weber in politics and social thought: From charisma to canonization (pp. 80-116). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press

Kalberg, S. (1994). Max Weber's Comparative-Historical Sociology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Lowith, K. (1993). Max Weber and Karl Marx. London, England: Routledge.