What exactly is Weber's Protestant Ethic Thesis?

In their sociological analysis of religion, some theorists focused on social structure as the basic element. Emile Durkheim, for example, suggested that religion, or rather the function of religion was to provide moral social cohesion. Faith becomes a social tie that binds people together. For Weber, by contrast, social action rather than structure was the fundamental starting point. In sociology, action is distinguished from behaviour in that it involves meaning or intention. Weber felt that sociological analysis must proceed by identifying the meaning that actions have for individuals or groups. This point is particularly relevant to this discussion, as Weber believed religion was centred on the question of salvation. Uncertainties about life and death had the psychological effect of motivating individuals and their actions. The Catholic belief regarding salvation is that the reward of everlasting life in the presence of God is promised to all who have faith in Jesus Christ and who live according to his teaching. During the Reformation in the 16th century, Martin Luther challenged the theory that salvation could be earned or secured by doing ‘good works’. His insistence that salvation was by God’s grace and that no good deeds or sacraments could influence God, (along with other challenges to Catholicism) led to the establishment of Protestant Churches. Their approach to the issue of salvation was based on the theory of predestination – only an elect will be saved, and only God knows who this elect will be. John Calvin pushed the doctrine of ‘God’s grace’ to the limits of the definition. He believed that grace is a free gift, something that the Giver, by definition, must be free to bestow or withhold as he chooses. Therefore nothing really influences God’s decision, for if it could, that would turn ‘grace’ into God’s side of a transaction, rather than it being a pure gift. Whether one was among those saved became the urgent question for Protestants, which was the meaning or rationale for their social actions, Weber believed. The choice they made was to totally devote themselves and their lives to God. Although they had no direct knowledge of God’s will and believed that such upright living could not earn their salvation, perhaps success in life was evidence of being part of the elect. They attributed much importance to the role of the conscience as the revelation of God to the individual, and so they emphasised control and self-discipline in everyday life. This is where Weber’s concept of Protestant asceticism can be witnessed. It was an all-encompassing value system that shaped one’s whole life. Impulse and those activities that encouraged impulse, such as sport or dance, were to be shunned. External finery and glamour turned attention away from inner character and purpose. Excess consumption and idleness were resources wasted that could otherwise glorify God. Life was to be simple and controlled, so as to better serve God.

The way in which this asceticism is linked to capitalism is seen, as Weber argued, in the moral attitude of capitalist workers. Firstly, work became the centre of the Protestant individual’s life. “Not leisure and enjoyment, but only activity serves to increase the glory of God.” (McIntosh, 1997:123)∗ Devotion to work, and also the treatment of work as one’s ‘calling’ in life satisfies the capitalist requirement of profit maximization, insofar as it implies that labour as a resource is being utilised in an efficient manner. It also satisfies Protestant asceticism, as the worker is fully committed to the work that God called him to do. The importance of each worker having his own calling was a prominent feature of the Protestant Ethic. Outside of a calling his work might be considered casual and irregular, and it may lack the systematic order that is demanded by asceticism. This emphasis on the importance of a fixed calling provided an ethical justification of the modern specialised division of labour – an undeniable characteristic of capitalist economies. In addition, utter devotion to work also ensured that the individual’s time was not wasted through sociability, idleness or other worldly pursuits. We are reminded here that Protestants chose to behave as though they would experience salvation, and leading the right life would serve as evidence of their inevitable salvation. Therefore, they believed that their everlasting rest awaited them in the next life.

The issue of wealth is a somewhat delicate one, in particular the accumulation of wealth, as it often tends to result in the emergence of materialistic characteristics and greed – hardly qualities that reflect God’s will. However, there are a few essential points for discussion here. While the Protestant Ethic as described by Weber condemns the relentless pursuit of wealth and regards it as senseless and morally suspect, the real moral objection lies not in wealth itself, but rather its numerous temptations. Wealth itself, accumulated through hard honest work, is considered entirely acceptable. If God offers an opportunity to achieve, then it must be accepted. “If God show you a way in which you may lawfully get more than in another way (without wrong to your soul or to any other), if you refuse this, and choose the less gainful way, you cross one of the ends of your calling, and you refuse to be God’s steward, and to accept His gifts and use them for Him when He requireth it: you may labour to be rich for God, though not for the flesh and sin.” (McIntosh, 1997:125)∗ Wealth is only considered bad ethically insofar as it is a danger, in terms of its temptations to idle and sinful behaviour. The acquisition of wealth is undesirable only if it is carried out with the intention of future careless consumption. It is important to note here that Weber’s view of the Protestant Ethic emphasised the values of hard work and deferred gratification, which are necessary conditions for successful capitalism – the creation of capital achieved through continuous hard work, and the productive reinvestment of this capital, rather than immediate consumption. This is one of the strongest links between the Protestant Ethic and the ideas in which capitalism is firmly rooted.

At this point, I feel a closer examination of the original statement of Weber’s argument may be required. He claimed that the secular culture of capitalist society originated paradoxically in Protestant asceticism. In the previous section I mentioned that wealth is often considered to induce greed and materialism, and how these are qualities that may defy the will of God. This is where the secular culture of modern capitalist society emerges, as religious thinking loses its significance. Weber, however, foresaw this secularisation and his thesis actually includes the theory that, over time, worldly asceticism in economic life would have no need of continuing religious sanction. Thereby religion, or at least Protestantism, eventually brings about its own decline. John Wesley said “Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion…. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.” (McIntosh, 1997:127) The temptations that wealth has to offer, the very temptations that the Protestant Ethic warns of, eventually prove strong enough, and the capitalist worker will give in to them. The pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions.

This leads me to the conclusion that Weber’s thesis has offered us a complete picture of the relationship between the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, from the rise and spread of capitalism facilitated by Protestant asceticism, right through to the expansion and development of modern capitalism to a point at which it no longer requires religious sanction. His argument has been made relatively clear and has been well supported – he argued that the search for evidence of salvation or membership of God’s chosen ‘elect’ provided the motivation for the social action of the Protestant community. This social action, manifested in the form of asceticism, included in particular, devotion to one’s work or ‘calling’. Capitalism is a framework or a method of economic organisation that requires a particular mental attitude, and the social actions of Protestants as described by Weber certainly permitted the development of this mental attitude. Their devotion to work facilitated the relentless pursuit of profit that characterises capitalist economies. In fact, the capitalist emphasis on profit maximisation through exploitation of labour was met by the Protestant belief that wealth accumulation was God’s will, as He provided the opportunities to maximise wealth. The treatment of work as their calling in life also coincided well with the capitalist division of labour and the specialisation of work tasks. Protestants avoided the consumption of lavish or expensive goods, as this was seen as a waste of the resources provided by God. They believed that if salvation awaited them, then so too did their eternal rewards. This life was for working, the next life would allow rest. This ethic of deferred gratification allowed the capitalist worker and indeed the capitalist firm to avoid immediate consumption of wealth in favour of productive reinvestment of capital. While this theory all appears to have a certain stability, Weber himself recognised the flaws that emerged with modernity, and has completed his thesis with the idea that the religious element loses significance as capitalism advances. As riches inevitably expand, so too do the associated temptations, and capitalism itself, not religion, is the sole survivor in a new, materialistic age.