Calvinism, Capitalism and Confusion:

The Weberian Thesis Revisited

Dennis P. Forcese
Carleton University

Max Weber's well-known discussion of the relationship between the

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"Protestant ethid" and "capitalista" has occasioned a vast amount of dis-
cussion, much of it critical. Ir is our contention that the Weberian thesis
has been done an in]ustice in the course of this dialogue, for with few
exceptions the critics do not appear to have argued to the point. Weber's
intention was to demonstrate a relationship between Calvinism a n d a
peculiar forra of capitalism, not in terms of genesis, but in terms of "feed-
bacl91 Weber granted that the Protestant ethic which he described dif-
fered in forro and emphasis from that immediately following the Refor-
mation, and that it had altered in response to a developing capitalista.
But Weber sought to demonstrate that this altered ethic in turn influenced
capitalista, serving as ah impetus to its further development to a stage
characterized by what Weber called the "capitalist ethos." He by no
means imputed monocausaIity, nor did he assume that he had at all ex-
plained the origins of capitalista. Rather, he [ocused upon the institu-
tionalization of the capitalist complex, and here the effect of ideology
appeared vital.

During the years 1904 and 1905 there is not our ambition to resolve the issue
appeared in print for the first time Max with one stroke. Rather, we present this
Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit paper in an attempt to impose a little
of CapitalŸ 1 The thesis presented in order upon the entire issue.
the work subsequenfly became, and re-
mains, among the most debated in his- WEBER'S INTENTION
tory and social science. Max Weber had been greatly influ-
The proliferation of written comment enced by the thought of Karl Marx, as
that has grown up around the work has had so many of his generation. Yet
tended to obscure the entire issue raised Weber did not concur with Marx's mono-
by Weber, rather than clarify it. Not only causal interpretation of change. Eco-
does doubt remain as to the validity of nomic determinism was a gross over-
Weber's thesis, but there is more than a simpliflcation. The Protestant Ethic was
little uncertainty as to its exact nature. to represent Weber's first main chapter
In the face of this situation it certainly in his case for the importance of ideology
a s a contributing determinant of social
1 Talcott Parsons, "Translator's Prefaee'" to structure.
the English edition of Max Weber's The Prot-
estant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalista, New The Protestant Ethic was to be the first
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958, p. xiii. of an intended series of comparative
193
194 SlL"IOLOGICJtI, ANALYSIS

studies. Weber was convinced that as a tions, capitalista in the Western

substitute for the controlled experiments sense did not emerge. Weber wished
of the laboratory denied the social scien- to find those factors in other civiliza-
tist, extensive cross-cultural comparisons tions which blocked the emergence
should be resorted to. of capitalism. 3
The comparative method as Weber Tentatively, then, Weber suggested that
used it, is the direct methodological one sucia absent factor was a religion
equivalent of experimentation in the amenable to capitalist development. But
laboratory sciences. Only by study- although Weber suggested religion as an

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ing cases which ate similar in some independent variable, it is quite clear
respects but different in others would that he was aware of other differenti-
it be possible to arrive a t a judge- ating factors.
ment of the causal influence of any
factor. 2 . . . Weber was not naive enough to
suppose that European and Chinese
Weber had previously noted the high civilizations differed only in a single
frequency of Protestants among the bour- factor. In any case he had already
geoisie of Europe, even in non-Protestant suggested in a study of the Western
nations. He thereby was Ied to the idea city that the disassociation of the
of the peculiar signiflcance of the "Prot- city from kinship and viUage ties
estant ethic" in Western civilization. and its emergence a s a confessional
Weber hypothesized that the ethic, ide- association was another factor pecu-
ally represented by Calvinism and the liar to the West and one which,
Puritan sects, was the factor present in along with Protestantism, played an
Europe but absent elsewhere that could important part in the emergence of
at least partially account for the develop- Western capitalista. 4
ment of modern capitalism. His com-
parative studies were to permit him to Weber himself was quite explicit in this
fully evaluate his hypothesis. regard.
Unfortunately Weber never completed 9 we have no intention whatever
. .

as extensive a series of comparisons as he of maintaining such a foolish and

had projected. However, he did manage
to accumulate considerable data on 8 H. Gerth, C. W. Mills, From Max Weber,
China, at the time dominated by Con- New York: Oxford University Press, 1958, p.
fucianism, and India where the major 51. Weber explicitly aeknowledges such capi-
religion was Hinduism. Weber judged talist begirmings in bis footnotes. (Max Weber,
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capi-
that although conditions in a purely eco- talista, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
nomie sense appeared to be adequately 1958, pp. 189-190 and pp. 199-200.) Further,
present in China and India, the singular he sought to distinguish the modern eapitalist
economic complex of capitalism had only ethos from prior capitalist forros, such as politi-
developed in Europe. cal eapitalism, pariah capitalista, adventure
capitalism, etc. Such examples were by way of
Although capitalist beginnings could acknowledging capitalist aetivities but not a
be observed in these other civiliza- capitalist system such as he wished to explain.
See Max Weber, The Theory of Social and
9 Talcott Parsons, "Max Weber's Sociologi- Economic Organizations, New York: Free Press,
cal Analysis of Capitalista and Modern Institu- 1964, Chapter 2. See also: Gerth and Mills,
tŸ in An Introduction to the History of op. cit., pp. 66-68.
Sociology, H. E. Barnes (ed.), Chieago: Uni- 4 John Rex, "Max Weber,'" New Society, 4
versity of Chicago Press, 1948, p. 295. (December 3, 1964), p. 24.
 CALVmISM, cAPrr~LLSM, AND CONFUSIO~r 195

doctrinaire thesis as that the spirit what way did religious ideology con-
of capitalista . . . could only have tribute to capitalism's peculiar forro. We
arisen as a result of certain effects accept Parson's interpretation with some
of the Reformation, or even that qualification that will become clear as we
capitalista as an economic effect is a progress.
creation of the Reformation. In it-
self, the fact that certain important ~VEBER'S THESIS
forros of capitaIistic business organi- We have presented our understanding
zation are known to be considerably of Weber's intention. In now turning to

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older than the Reformation is a suffi- his thesis, we hope to demonstrate the
cient refutation of such a claŸ On essential validity of our interpretation
the contrary, we only wish to ascer- and to evaluate Weber's case.
tain whether and to what extent
religious forces have taken part in Before one can even begin to under-
the qualitative formation and quan- stand Weber's thesis, it is necessary to
ascertain precisely how he defined his
titative expansion of that spirit over
the world. ~ terms of reference and his concepts. Un-
fortunately this Ÿ no straighfforward
Weber's approach and aim, then, appear task since Weber is considerably less
both sensible and sophisticated. His in- than exact in this regard. This ambiguity
tention would seem clear. But that ap- to a large extent accounts for his having
parently it has not been is testified by been so frequently misinterpreted.
the criticism that his work has incurred, The concept 8 of the "spirit of capi-
much of which is directed at what is
taken to be a case for the causal primacy 8 Weber, of course, was using ideal types.
of ProtestantismY Other critics, some- But such types only clarified the features of
what more perceptive, have asserted that given histo¡ periods by abstracting those
features from the given situation. Contrary to
Weber was attempting no such thing Fischoff's argument, such use of ideal types
and only sought to demonstrate that need not invalidate bis thesis. ("The ideal-type
Protestantism was a necessary, although method neglects the time coefl]cient, or at any
by no means sufl]cient, condition for the rate, impairs the possibility of establishing time
development of capitalism. For example, sequences because Ÿ involves the telescoping
Parsons states of Weber: of data." Ephraim Fischoff, "The History of a
Controversy," in Green, op. cit., p. 113.) Weber
He d i d . . . definitely maintain that emphasizes given features to the exclusion of
the Protestant ethic was a necessary others for the sake of developing bis thesis, but
condition and that, without it, the they are features which existed and for wbich
a temporal sequence can be discerned. Indeed,
development would have been radi- Weber held that only by thus being selective
caIly dŸ r can we achieve causal explanations. It is worth
repeating Raymond Aron's lucid explanation
This latter interpretation would seem to of this view: " ' . . . it is indispensable to make
be quite reasonable. Weber sought to a selection among the consequences and to
determŸ what influence Protestantism limit the antecedents whieh are taken into
had in the development of capitalism; in account. The primar), condition for establisbing
historical causality is this selection. It is impos-
5 Max Weber, op. cit. (1958), p. 91. sible to give an account of the whole of reality,
6 See the valuable compendium of papers and a historieal cause can ordy be defined with
reprinted in: Robert W. Green, Protestantism reference to particular aspects of a given phe-
and Capitalista: The Weber Thesis and Its nomenon. Thus, if one studies the origins of
Critics, Boston: D. C. Heath & Co., 1959. capitalism, it is essential to state those aspeets
7 Talcott Parsons, op. cit., p. 294. of capitalism wbich are to be taken into con-
196 SOflOLOGIr ANALYFIS

talism" should be our initial concern. In logical sanction. In this the capitalist
resorting to this "somewhat pretentious ethos differs from all previous "tradi-
phrase "9 Weber sought to distinguish a tionar' capitalist undertakings.
spectfic form of capitalism from the bulk 9 . . the central problem for us is
of capitalistic activity. Ir is this unique not . . . the development of capi-
t?orm, and not capitalist activity gener- talistic activity as such, differing in
ally, that Weber attempted to associate different cultures only in forro: the
with Calvinism. Vaguely, Weber sug- adventure-type, or capitalista in
gests that by "spirit of capitalism" he trade, war, politics, or administra-

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refers to a specifie capitalist "ethos. "i~ tion as sources of gain. Ir is rather
Capitalista existed in China, India, the origin of this sober bourgeo~
Babylon, in the classic world, and in capitalista with its rational organiza-
the Middle Ages. But in all these tion of free labor, i~
cases . . . this particular ethos was
lacking, il Weber thereby considerably narrowed
the range of his inquiry. He restricted
What precisely characterized this ethos? his discussion to a specifie phase of capi-
9 . the ideal of the honest man of
.
talist development, differentiated from
recognized credit, and above aU the other forms essentially in its psychologi-
idea of a duty of the individual cal basis.
toward the increase of his capital, Thus, it is this peculiar ethos that
whŸ is assumed as an end in itself. Weber must account for, and he sees it
Truly what is preached here is not as a product of more than a gradual
simply a means of making one's way process of secularization under the im-
in the world but a peculiar ethic. pact of expanding economic activity.
The infraction of its rules is treated Weber suggests that the ethos, and
not as foolishness but as forgetful- hence the unique capitalist complex asso-
ness of duty. That is the essence of ciated with it, are in some part attribut-
the matter. Ir is not mete business able to the Protestant ethic. His conten-
astuteness, that sort of thing is com- tion is that an ideo]ogical cmtch such as
m o n enough, it is ah ethos. 1~ the Protestant ethie could go a consider-
It is this ethos which distinguishes a able way in consolŸ the capitalistic
peculiar form of capitalism. The capi- economic complex. Once institutional-
talist complex is characterized by ra- ized, the capitalist structure then could
tionally organized and formally free well absorb the religious ethic.
labor and ah unmitigated entrepreneur- 9. . the full economic effect of those
ship, justified and reinforced by an ideo- great religious movements . . . gener-
sideration. A causal relation cannot be estab- ally carne only after the peak of the
lished between one total situation and another, purely religious enthusiasm was
or between one historical moment and another; past. Then the intensity of the search
it is never more than one strand in the whole, for the Kingdom of God commenced
and it is only established by a conceptual graduaUy to pass over into sober
transformation of the crude reality." (Raymond economic virtue; the religious roots
Aron, German Sociology, New York: Free Press,
1964, p. 79.) died out slowly, giving way to utili-
9 Weber, op. cit. (1958), p. 47. tarian worldliness. 14
lo Ibid., p. 51.
ii Ibid., p. 52. 18 Ibid., pp. 23-249
12 Ibid., p. 51. x4 Ibid., p. 1769
 CALVINISM~ CAPITALIS/r AND CONFUSION 197

This Protestant ethie, of course, emerged proached it as men of affairs, dis-

from the Reformation. But Weber con- posed neither to idealize the pa-
cedes that the Reformed religions prob- triarchal virtues of the peasant
ably did not encourage capitalism ini- community, nor to regard with sus-
tially, and indeed militated against it. picion the mete fact of capitalist
But his concern is with Protestantism's enterprise in commerce and ~.
eventual and quite latent function. What- flafl91237
ever its maniIest and initial intention and
effect, the ethic nurtured capitalist de- Weber was as muela aware of this
significant distinction as was Tawney,

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velopment, contends Weber.
and therefore concentrated upon Cal-
We ate naturally not concerned with vinism since its extreme nature made
the question of what was theoreti- more readily apparent the process that
cally and officiaUy taught in the Weber sought to bring to light. Weber
ethical compendia of the time, how- was convinced that features of Calvinism
ever much practical signi[icance this were admirably suited to contribute to
may have had through the influence the current capitalist development.
of Church discipline, pastoral work, First of all, there was the "calling," the
and preaching. We ate interested idea that it was one's duty to labor
rather in something entirely dif- diligently in this world without respite.
ferent: the influence of those psy- Originally cortfined to a spiritual sense,
chological sanctions which, origi- the notion of calling very soon was ex-
nating in religious belief and the tended to this worldly oceupational con-
practice of religion, gave a direction text. x7 Also of importance was the Cal-
to practical conduct and held the vinist belief in predestination. One could
individual to it. 15 not effect one's other-wordly designation,
Weber is cautious in speaking of Protes- but if one was successful in the under-
tantism and distinguishes between Prot- takings of this world, then one could rest
assured that one was among the Elect.
estant forms. He does not attempt to
The success was not an end in itself, but
doeument the irdtuence of Protestantism
an indicator that one was assured of sal-
generally. For example, he largely dis-
vation. But the Calvinists were not al-
counts Lutheranism as an obvious re-
lowed to indulge in whatever success they
action against the increased economie
might achieve. It was quite legŸ to
libera]ism of the age. The heart of the
prosper, and to prosper without cease,
ethic rests with Calvinism and the de-
but one could not resort to frivolity in
rivative Puritan sects. As Tawney was to
any sense. Strict frugality was the watch-
make c/ear in his work, there was a
word.
considerable difference between Luther-
Thus, asserts Weber, once the em-
anism and Calvinism; Lutheranism was
phasis passed from religious practice to
reactionary and tended to appeal in rural
areas, while Calvinism appealed to the 16 R. H. Tawney, Religion and the Rise of
bourgeoisie and established itself upon Capitalista, New York: New American Library,
an urban base. Notes Tawney: 1961, p. 92.
17 Weber explicitly, and to some length, dis-
Unlike Luther, who saw economic tinguishes the Pre-Reformation sense of spir-
life with the eyes of a peasant and a itual calling from that which came to pass in
mystic, they (the Calvinists) ap- the Post-Reformation period--the sense of a
secular occupational duty. (Weber, op. cit.,
~5 lbid., p. 97. pp. 207-211.)
198 SOCaOr.OGICAt..r

economic endeavor supported by reli- this up Tawney was only making more
gious conviction, the Calvinists enjoyed explicit what Weber had obviously con-
a disfinct advantage over other Ch¡ ceded and was thereby left tilting at
tians in motivation. They were compelled windmills.
to economic endeavor, entrepreneur and Weber, in counterweight to Marx, may
laborer alike, for it was their duty. Yet have been anxious to point up that ide-
they were prevented from consuming the ology was a factor to be contended with,
product of their efforts, thereby allowing but he never doubted the influence of
the accumulation of capital for reinvest- economic factors in shaping the entire

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ment in further economic undertakings. social structure and its components, in-
cluding religion. Weber was as aware of
This worldly Protestant asceticism
the interdependence of social items as
9 . . acted powerfully against the
was Tawney, and equally aware of the
spontaneous enioyment of posses- many factors contributing to capitalism.
sions; it restricted consumption es- He admitted a capitalistic form develop-
peciaUy of luxuries. On the other ing prior to, and after, the emergence of
hand, it had the psychological effect Protestantism, and granted the many
of freeing the acquisition of goods factors promoting this capitalist develop-
from the inhibitions of traditional- ment, such as population increase, new
istic ethics. It broke the bonds of the markets, colonŸ etc. Weber made
impulse of acquŸ in that it not clear bis awareness that this burgeoning
only legalized it, but looked upon ir capitalism influenced Protestantism, as
as directly willed by God. TM other religions, until it was turned from
Whereas hitherto traditional capitalism its original emphasis to a shape that
had been lŸ by a lack of mofivation clearly bolstered capitalist development.
to labor beyond satisfying one's own Weber was not speaking of genesis,
need, the Protestant ethic provided the prime cause, or any sucia thing. His in-
bourgeois entrepreneur a religious sane- tention simply was to demonstrate that
tion. Behavior previously only tolerated at some point the religious ethic pro-
was now ideologically iustified, a n d a vided a sŸ impetus to capitalist
labor force acting from religious com- entrenchment. Whether or not Protes-
pulsion was available for exploitation. tantism itself was initially one product of
Thereby emerged the distinctive "spirit the drive to capitalism is of no matter.
of capitalism." The obvious point is that ah effect itself
can become a cause. Once produced,
C'RITICIZING T H E C ~ C S Protestantism itself was altered by the
One of the more successful rejoinders existing, though as yet unconsolidated,
to the Weber thesis was that of the rational-capŸ milieu, and then in
British economist R. H. Tawney. tuna influenced the change process of
Tawney did not dispute that the Cal- economic development. Contemporary
vinists and the PurŸ sects may have theorists choose to refer to this process as
contributed to capitalist development, "feedback."
but he was anxious to point out that the In like manner, then, Tawney's criti-
accord came only after the religious ethic cism that Weber drew only upon later
had been altered by an already well- Calvinist writings and not the earlier
developed capitalism. But in pointing ones so clearly alien to capitalism, is
quite beside the point. It is the later
ls Ibi~, p. 171. writings which represent the period of
 CALVlNISM,CAPITALISl~I,AND CONFUSION 199

Calvinism's effect. Weber did not arbi- view the Calvinistic pattern is to be
trarily intersect history, nor did he regarded as the most complete reali-
rnisapply his illustrations. He simply de- zation of possibilities in one par-
scribed the period in which the Protes- ticular direction. Catholicism, from
tant influence was rnarked, that is, the this point of view, considerably
point at whieh the feedback had estab- mitigates the rigors of the Calvinist
lished itself. doctrine; but, by contrast with
The influence of the ethic, contends Confucianism and Hinduism, aU
Weber, acted to spur capitalism to a new branches of Christianity ate seen to
have much in common. 2o

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level, that of the capitalist ethos, and
provided an ideological sanction for its
institutionalization. Other Christian reli- In the course of his comparisons, Weber
gious forms, also altered by capŸ had determined that in India and China,
rnay have accornrnodated the new eco- religion played a vital role in that it was
nomic tendency, but the mutated Cal- of such a nature as to prevent capitalist
vinistic and Puritan ethic prornoted and development. In the West, in contrast,
sanctioned it. 19 although ostensibly opposed to forms of
Weber had decided from his compara- capitalist enterprise, Christianity gener-
tive undertakings that not iust Calvinism ally tolerated capitalist forms. As so
and the Puritan sects, but all Christianity many of Weber's critics point up, Cathol-
was unique in that it allowed, unlike icism rnay have frowned upon capŸ
Hinduism and Confucianisrn, capitalist but with a very visible wink, and often
forms to emerge and develop. But Cal- indirect Vatican support. Therefore there
vŸ eventually did more than tolerate was a capitalist foothold in the West but
and bend with the secular breeze. Tal- not in the East. Then with the Beforma-
cott Parsons makes the irnportant point: tion, itself in large p a r t a product of
changing economic condŸ new
. . . Weber was partŸ con- Christian forros emerged that eventually
cerned with the contrast between not only perrnitted capitalism, but once
"'ascetic" Protestantism and Cathol- rnoderated by the capitalist surge of the
icism. Comparisons with the reli- day, becarne propellents of the capitalist
gions of China and India consider- drive. The ethic added to the common
ably reduces the signi~cance of this desŸ for econornic gain a powerful and
contrast. From the latter point of convenient religious Ÿ That the
religious roots of the bourgeois iustifica-
19 Weber, therefore, would likely concede tion were eventually to be lost as capi-
that where there were insuflicient factors oper-
ating to alter the original religious teachings, talisrn became firmly entrenched is of no
then the ethie probably would not of itself matter.
bring about eapitalism. Such would explain Weber attempted to dernonstrate,
the absence of eapitalism, for example, in Pres- then, that ideology is Ÿ first, in
byterian-dominated Scotland. Tawney had
noted that two opposing trends are available that it may effective|y tfiwart of retard
for development in Calvinism, that of collec- econornie change; secondly, that it may
tivism, and that of individualism. (Tawney, actively promote econornŸ change; and
op. cit., p. 194.) Thus, conceivably, where the thirdly, its sanction may p l a y a vital role
original collectivist emphasis is not moderated in the institutionalization of a new eco-
by other factors in the social environment, the nornic complex.
individualŸ tendency never deve|ops. Cal-
vinism's feedbaek effect upon capitalism never
comes into play. 2o Parsons, op. cit., pp. 297-298.
9.00 SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION Weberian thesis by pointing up the other

ObvŸ Weber has not definitively factors operating in the development of
proved anything, for ah ex post facto capitalism is to mŸ the point. It is ir-
explanalŸ can never be developed that relevant to claim that other variables
is perfect and that satisfies everyone. But precipitated and propelled the change to
bis explanation of the effect of one vari- a eapitalist complex. What should be
able in a given instance of change is questioned in Weber's thesis is the degree
excellent. Unlike his critics, Weber ap- to which it can be said that the ethic
parently did not confuse genesis with played a role. Weber's verdict is that its

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causality. role was considerable, but there is room
Certainly there are flaws in his ap- for doubt. The critie should ask how ex-
proach. Regarding his comparison, for tensive was the Calvinistie and Puritan
example, it is clear that there are many irdtuence. Again we tend to agree with
extraneous and corffoundŸ variables Weber in that the religious ethic seemed
which Weber could not control. It is to have appealed to the emerging bour-
conceivable that had the Asian condi- geoisie, thereby providing them a re-
tions in terms of economie opportunity inforcing incentive and justifieation for
been equal to that of Europe, then these their activities that had hitherto been de-
religions also might have proved more nied them. Particularly important would
congenial to capitalist development. We have been the ethie in America, where
have Weber's opinion that conditions its installation was tempered by a capi-
were approximately comparable in the talist and pioneer milieu.
three civilizations, but there would ap- In the same line, the critie should ask
pear to have been quite singular eco- to what extent is it valid to elaim that the
nomie opportunities operating in the ethie played ah irnportant tole in the
West that never were afforded the East. institutionalization of the capitalistic
Certainly, then, without perfecfly con- eomplex. Was the emerging rational-
trolling for economic variables, Weber secular philosophy in itself not enough to
cannot prove that a given religious form account for the consolidation of the new
was a vital condition for capitalism. I~ economic complex? We suggest, as prob-
we restrict ourselves to Parson's sense, ably Weber would, that not only was the
speaking of Protestantism as necessary secular philosophy insuflicient, but prob-
in that otherwise capitalism probably ably it was itself not established until
would have matured to quite a different capitalism was institutionalized and the
form, then we are somewhat more in- religious ethie had considerably dis-
clined to concur, but it still remains a appeared.
matter of considered judgement. In summary, then, the emergence of
Weber's case for feedback causation capitalism was, of course, a lengthy and
stands with the comparative method- gradual process. Weber realized the
ology which provided him his initial in- complexity of the matter and had no in-
sight. Here again there is no questŸ of tentŸ of simplification. As any process
definite proof, but as in all historical of social change, there were many con-
explanation, it is a matter of carefully tributing factors and the origins can
evaluating Weber's analysis. We believe never be precisely determined. To seareh
that his analysis is quite sound, continu- for any one prime cause is foolish and
ally keeping in mind his Iimited inten- futile. But to attempt to determine all
tion. the variables that contribute to the un-
As we have argued, criticizing the stable, changing system is the social
 CALVINIS1Vf, CAPITALISl~, AND CONFUSION 201

scientist's task. To reeogm'ze the change religious ideology in the flurry of Marxist
process as eomplicated, with many vari- influence.
ables acting upon one another, separately Weber's implicit use of the notion of
and colleetively, directly and indireetly, feedback is a sound and valuable con-
eontinuously and sporadicaUy, is to know tribution. Bather than having naively
the social system for what it is. But this over-simplified the intricacies of a change
is not to prevent the social scientist from situation, Weber's thesis illustrated that
drawing attention to a contributing vari- cause and effect cannot be neatly sepa-
able that had been overlooked, as had rated into a unilineal causal sequence.

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