Weber employs ideal types to construct a theoretical explanation for the rise of modern capitalism.
An ideal type (Idealtypus) stresses certain but not all dominant attributes of a subject.
This facilitates comparison and explanation but does not assume exhaustive accounting.
Weber uses ideal types of, among others, religion and capitalism to set up his theory.
Beruf in Calvinism and Lutheranism 1: Individuals are called to be productive in living out their faith.
- Religious connotation: a (consuming) task (profession) set by God
- To glorify God, individuals should not "dissipate" the fruits of their productive activities in worldly pleasures.
1 Weber employs qualities of Calvinism, Lutheranism, and Puritanism (esp. from U.S) to construct his ideal type.
Sometimes, indeed, convinced by their own experience, [philosophers] do not deny how difficult it is for man to establish the supremacy of reason in himself, inasmuch as he is at one time enticed by the allurements of pleasure; at another, deluded by a false semblance of good; and, at another, impelled by unruly passions ... (Calvin, Institutes)
Left to our own desires, we pursue pleasure and laziness.
We need a kick in the pants...
-
Luther (
beardless and not handsome
) understood profession (
Beruf
) and vocation (
Berufung
) as religious obligations.
-
He based this on 1 Cor 7:20: "Let each of you remain in the condition (τη κλήσει = calling, role) in which you were called."
A similar sense is shared by Calvin,
For whence is it that one is more excellent than another, but that in a common nature the grace of God is specially displayed in passing by many and thus proclaiming that it is under obligation to none. We may add, that each individual is brought under particular influences according to his calling . (Calvin, Institutes)
Positive and negative responses to the capitalist work ethic in the US may affirm the impact of Protestantism upon the cultural ethos. Both react to it as a cultural drive.
An emphasis upon the cost as unpayable (a more reformed version of Calvin's views):
The emphasis upon the U.S. Christian community (often within Protestant circles) as the symbolic representation of divine authority shapes attitudes toward Israel.
We work hard!
God blesses the U.S. because of our work ethic.
Western Christians more clearly reflect what a "good Christian" ought to look like...
When we enter into relations with our cultures, we tend to do so with presuppositions about "right" responses and attitudes.
- Religion provides the façade of universal legitimation for own cultural assumptions and expectations.
- In Western, capitalist cultures, these assumptions are framed within a general Christian worldview.
- In some cases, the overt religious nuances have become secularized. In other cases, religious reasoning has been foisted to the foreground (perhaps in direct response to the threat of secularization).
While Weber may not be entirely correct in all aspects of his theory, he has clearly identified some of the main areas of struggle in Western, capitalist societies.
Martin Luther
Judensau
Wittenberg
shem ha-meforash = possibly a tannaitic term for tetragrammatron
Here on our church in Wittenberg a sow is sculpted in stone. Young pigs and Jews lie suckling under her. Behind the sow a rabbi is bent over the sow, lifting up her right leg, holding her tail high and looking intensely under her tail and into her Talmud, as though he were reading something acute or extraordinary, which is certainly where they get their Shemhamphoras.
Luther in Wittenberg
Weber, Calvin, Luther
By Jeremiah Cataldo
