Weber - text Flashcards
1
Q
introduction
A
- W questions why the West seems to have a universal significance. The East lacks the rationality of the West e.g. science – systematic and rational mindset lacking in the East
- Same in the sphere of economics
o Trade has existed everywhere, but abroad, it lacked cohesion and was not ‘continuous like our own’. (6) We have developed capitalism ‘both to a quantitative extent, and … in types, forms, and direction which have never existed elsewhere’. (7) Capitalism abroad lacks direction and rational deliberation.
o Capitalistic associations in the East are ‘only small beginnings’ (8)
♣ However… perhaps no longer the case today? - Capitalism and other spheres are interdependent
o Capitalism needs law in terms of ‘formal rules’ (10)
o But capitalism has also helped law ‘prepare the way for the predominance in law and administration of a class of jurists specially trained in rational law’ (10)
2
Q
what is his case study focused on
A
- Weber begins with a case study of Protestants and Catholics in Baden, in Southern Germany, and the empirical observation that Protestants take part in modern business with greater effect than do Catholics.
- Reformation is usually viewed as an emancipation from tradition
o However, Protestant control was tight. Modernity does not embody freedom
o Despite tight control, commercial classes showed heroism in defending Protestant faith
3
Q
superior rationality of protestants
A
- Protestant valued higher education/technical training more than RCC, who favoured humanistic tradition over higher education.
- RCC placed importance on independent craftsmen
o Protestants worked in factories, skilled labour and admin. They joined modern methods of production.
o RCC were less ambitious, whilst Protestants placed greater emphasis on enterprise and drive. - ‘Protestants… have shown a special tendency to develop economic rationalism which cannot be observed to the same extent among Catholics’ (18)
o Difference must be sought in the ‘intrinsic character of their religious beliefs’
o Could argue that this is due to the ‘other-worldliness’ of Catholicism, it ‘brought up its adherents to a greater indifference toward the good things of this world’
o Catholics argue that ‘materialism results from secularisation’
o ‘The Protestant prefers to eat well, the Catholic to sleep undisturbed’ – Offenbacher (18)
4
Q
catholic tendencies
A
- They show ‘a stronger propensity to remain in their crafts… they more often become master craftsmen, whereas the Protestants are attracted to a larger extent into the factories in order to fill the upper ranks of skilled labour and administrative positions’ (17)
5
Q
reformation in general
A
- ‘It is necessary to note, what has often been forgotten, that the Reformation meant not the elimination of the Church’s control over everyday life, but rather the substitution of a new form of control for the previous one’ (16)
- Calvinism ‘would be for us the most absolutely unbearable form of ecclesiastical control’ (16)
6
Q
conflict between asceticism and religion
A
- Conflict between ‘asceticism’ and ‘participation in capitalistic acquisition’ might ‘actually turn out to be an intimate relationship’ (19)
- The fact that many capitalistic entrepreneurs have come from clergyman’s families might be explained as a ‘reaction against their ascetic upbringing’
o However, W claims that this ‘fails’ where capitalism is combined with extreme piety – as shown in Calvinism - ‘The spirit of hard work… the awakening of which one is inclined to ascribe to Protestantism, must not be understood … as connected with the Enlightenment’. (20)
7
Q
spirit of capitalism
A
- All the elements that make up Capitalism already existed in the pre-modern world. But they had to come together in a new social form, a new pattern and energy, shaped by what Weber calls the ‘spirit of capitalism’.
- Weber does not claim that the Protestant reformation created Capitalism, but rather than the two are ‘associated’.
- He lays side by side a secular text which brings out the spirit of capitalism, and a theological concept which gives the key to the Protestant ethic, to show their affinities.
8
Q
benjamin franklin - things to notice
A
- The secular text comes from an American, Benjamin Franklin, focussing around the notion of putting money to work in order to gain more money. Notice (1) how different the virtues in this world are from those of the older order, where generosity and gifts might be seen as central virtues, and (2) the contrast between a bourgeois world of application and hard work, reputation and restraint on the one hand, and an aristocratic (or plebeian) world of prodigality and ostentation on the other. (LINK TO WEBER IDEA OF PROT VS. RCC. FRANKLIN OFFERS A SECULAR PARALLEL)
- Marx shares view that money is a human construct. However, it is as if money men makes men and puts people to work. Inversion of Franklin
9
Q
benjamin franklin on virtues
A
- Franklin argues that good people are punctual. Will continue being a good person once you have made money.
- Money = prolific. Investment = more potential gains
- Necessary qualities are virtues. Money is a sign of one’s work.
o Contrasts this with the view that to be good, you should give away money
o Money as form of display (aristocrats) is contrary to the Protestant view
o Morality is important – need to appear honest - Contrast between bourgeois world of restrain and aristocratic world of austentacious display. Anthropological contrast
o Restraining desire for pleasure. Use energy to view economics in a rational, scientific manner
o Bourgeois place more importance on investment. Defence of group interest is corrupt. New collective view of world = spirit of capitalism
10
Q
weber view of franklin
A
- ‘Honesty is useful, because it assures credit’: intention is not necessarily pure (24)
- ‘Unnecessary surplus of this virtue would evidently appear to Franklin’s eyes as unproductive waste’ (24)
- Franklin’s views are nuanced. He references divine revelation as aiding him in description of importance of virtue
- Franklin’s thought is so teleological that it becomes eudaimonic
- Making money is a form of achieving eudaimonia
- Earning money becomes a virtue, ‘as long as it is done legally’
- ‘It is an obligation which the individual is supposed to feel… towards the content of his professional activity’. This is necessary for modern day capitalism to work (25)
11
Q
weber on the capitalist economy as survival of the fittest
A
- ‘Capitalism of today… educates and selects the economic subjects which it needs through a process of economic survival of the fittest’
- USA example
o ‘the spirit of capitalism was present before the capitalistic order’ (26)
o New England is the reverse of the idea that the capitalist spirit is borne of economic conditions. Southern USA has a significant business motive when capitalism was not significantly developed - A lack of ‘conscienziosita’ is an obstacle to capitalistic development (27)
- However… a ruthless attitude to business has been common in history
o It characterised pre-capitalistic times (‘the rational utilisation of capital in a permanent enterprise and the rational capitalistic organisation of labour had not yet become dominant forces’ (28)
12
Q
traditionalism
A
- Often associated with ‘piece-rates’
o Attempt has been made to increase piece-rate, and thus allow workers to earn a significant amount. However, this did not end up being successful as instead of increasing output, workers decreased their amount of work
o Workers would ask themselves how much they had to work to make a certain amount, rather than how much they would earn if they worked a certain amount
o ‘A man does not by nature wish to earn more and more money, but simply to live as he is accustomed to live and to earn as much as is necessary for that purpose’ (29)
13
Q
capitalism as opposed to traditionalism
A
- Surplus population (allows for cheap labour) is a ‘necessity for the development of capitalism’ (29)
- ‘The efficiency of labour decreases with a wage which is physiologically insufficient’. (29)
- Low wages do not allow for experienced workers who will be willing to work properly. If wages are reasonable, workers do not slack and are not wasting time calculating how long they must work for (traditionalism). The capitalist spirit is marked by a sense of duty and purpose in one’s work
- Modern capitalism is characterised by an ‘attitude which seeks profit rationally and systematically’ (as shown by Franklin) (31)
14
Q
how do businesses become capitalistic
A
- Businesses can be in ‘every respect capitalistic’, but in fact are ‘traditionalistic business’ e.g. in the ‘traditional manner of life’ (33)
o In ‘increasing the rigour of his supervision’, peasants are turned into labourers.
o By ‘changing his marketing methods’, he would ‘personally solicit customers’
o Would allow for a ‘process of rationalisation’ (33)
o ‘The old leisurely and comfortable attitude toward life gave way to a hard frugality in which some participated and came to the top’ (33)
15
Q
ideal capitalistic entrepreneur
A
- He has an ‘ascetic tendency’ (35)
- ‘He gets nothing out of his wealth for himself, except the irrational sense of having done his job well’
- ‘This spirit of capitalism might be understandable as… a result of adaptation’ (35)
- ‘Whoever does not adapt his manner of life to the conditions to capitalistic success must go under’ (36)
