[2.1] Weber: religion as a force for change Flashcards
What was Weber’s study called?
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
What did Weber argue in his study?
The religious beliefs of Calvinism brought about capitalism.
What were the four Calvinist beliefs?
Predestination, divine transcendence, asceticism and the idea of a vocation or calling.
What is predestination?
The idea that God has already decided which souls are saved.
What is divine transcendence?
The idea that God is so far above and beyond this world that no-one can claim to know his will.
What is asceticism?
Refraining from luxury.
What is an idea of a vocation or calling?
Glorifying God’s name through one’s work.
What do the Calvinists feel that creates a salvation panic?
The idea of predestination coupled with the feeling of an unprecedented inner loneliness creates a salvation panic.
What were the consequences of the Calvinists’ behaviour?
Their wealth comforted their salvation panic, they convinced themselves they would not be this wealthy if they were not the elect, and they systematically accumulated wealth which was reinvested making them even richer.
Was Hinduism an ascetic religion?
Yes.
Was Hinduism ‘this-worldly’ or ‘other-worldly’?
Other-worldly.
Was Confucianism an ascetic religion?
No.
Was Confucianism ‘this-worldly’ or ‘other-worldly’?
This-worldly.
How does Kautsky (1927) criticise Weber’s work?
He says Weber overestimates the role of ideas and underestimates the role of economic factors in bringing capitalism into being.
What does Tawney (1926) argue?
Technological changes, not religious ideas, created capitalism.
