Sociology
In his discourse, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber discussed the importance of religion in dealing with capitalism, which he considered the most important economic revolution in humankind's history. Weber asserts that in capitalism, "which has come to dominate economic life, educates and selects the economic subjects which it needs through a process of economic survival of the fittest," there must be a new "manner of life" where people can adapt to the "peculiarities of capitalism" (Weber, 1958:47-8). This new manner of life, which he calls the Spirit of Capitalism, interweaves rationalism (giving birth to capitalism) and spiritualism (through religion). Weber proposes the Spirit of Capitalism in order to solve the problems of human greed, which stems from people's motivation to increase their material wealth. Thus, greed, human suffering, and inequality are the result of capitalism without its "spirit." Weber reminds that capitalism (and thus, rationalism) stemmed from religion, but because of the wealth-making nature of capitalism, religion was 'eroded' or eventually disregarded. In effect, Weber's discourse states that because of modernism and rationalism, religion has become gradually "rationalized" as well. Remembering that capitalism evolved from religion (in the early times) will help reconcile between the moral and rational differences between religion and capitalism as an economic revolution. Thus, religion in the modern, rational society has a significant role in bringing back humanity's passion, feeling, and ethics that capitalism took away: "It will be our task to find out whose intellectual child the particular concrete form of rational thought was, from which the idea of a calling and the devotion to labour in the calling has grown... We are here particularly interested in the origin of precisely the irrational element which lies in this, as in every conception of a calling" (Weber, 1958:47-8 and Coser, 1977:233-4).
Bibliography
Coser, L. (1977). Introduction to Sociology. New York: Harcourt-Brace.
Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Schribner's Press.
Companies practically make it mandatory for these people to employ a "nicer than natural" attitude and thus influence them to feel estranged from their emotions. Even with the fact that flight attendants manage to avoid being stressed as a result of their coping mechanism, their thinking can turn in an occupational hazard. Employing such attitudes can lead to serious problems as flight attendants feel detached from their jobs and
Sociological Theory The sociology of Max Weber (Question No. 1) Max Weber's sociology involved two important concepts: Protestant ethic and capitalism. Establishing a causal connection between this two concepts, Weber presented in his discourse, "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," how the Protestant ethic was the catalyst that propelled Western societies towards social progress through capitalism. This causal connection was developed through a string of observations and ideas that helped Weber
Anomie and Alienation Lost, With No Possibility of Being Found Running through the literature of classical late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century sociology are themes of isolation, of the poverty of life lived in isolated cells, of the fragility of a life in which we can almost never make authentic connections with other people, in which we are lost even to ourselves. We have -- and this "we" includes the entire population of
Public Policy The Canadian welfare state arose in the 1930s as a response to the poverty of the era, and was bolstered in the subsequent decades to include numerous elements of the social safety net. Prior to the development of the modern Canadian welfare state, the country relied on a classic liberal economic model, with few restrictions on enterprise and the commoditization of labour. Workers had few protections, the central government
Scientology Introducing a New Religious Movement, one must be as objective as possible. I, for instance, could choose to tell you that L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology in 1954 and marketed it as an organization for social reform that essentially became the global force it is today, with (young, professional, stylish, racially-diverse) adherents providing positive sound bites on Scientology.org that promote (in naturalistic, community-oriented settings) the religion as
Electoral Politics As detailed quite eloquently in Chapter 15 of Haywood's text, having political power is not simply getting one's way in a crude and overt manner, like passing or pushing a bill through congress. Rather, power also involves the task of agenda-setting itself, putting an idea upon the national platform of discourse. The author additionally cites Bacharatz and Baratz as critical in defining not simply making yes or no the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now