The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is Weber’s most famous work and undoubtedly ranks as one of the most innovative, and controversial, works of modern social science. First published in 1904-5, it immediately provoked a storm of debate and controversy which continues today and The Protestant Ethic is probably read more widely than when first introduced by Talcott Parsons in 1930.

The Protestant Ethic represents the starting point in Weber’s broader comparative studies and aims to demonstrate the elective affinity between certain Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethics. At the same time, it does much more, and students’ new to Weber will find an undeniably excellent introduction to current debates on the origins of capitalism, on sociological determinism, on methodology, and on the future of contemporary industrial societies. Written for this edition by Anthony Giddens.

Giddens analyses this text, situating it within the broader themes and connects them with Weber’s contemporary sociology. In addition, he provides a considered assessment of the debate to which The Protestant Ethic has given rise, considering the key ideas to which Weber’s ideas have been subjected the critical battering to which they have been subjected over seventy years.