The Origins of Capitalism

Essay # 97979

Economics
Political Science
Political Science > Political Theory

A look at the rationale behind Max Weber's contention that the Protestant work ethic gave rise to capitalism.

2,540 words () | 1 source | MLA | 2003 Bangladesh

Paper Summary:

This paper presents Max Weber's controversial theory that capitalism originated from the very particular ethic of work held by the Protestant. The writer points out the shortcoming of the conventional viewpoint that capitalism always existed. Further, the writer notes that greed is always extant in society, but as a destructive element and cannot be the basis of a stable society. The writer notes that Weber shows that the Protestant, through his unceasing penchant for material acquisition, is actually practicing a form of asceticism, and thus he is protected from the subversive elements, and herein lies the origin of capitalism.

From the Paper:

"Adam Smith analysed capitalism in work, and from his analysis he derived a premise to an argument that aimed to describe social man in terms of avarice alone. Those who came across his analyses, as it appeared in the 1776 publication The Wealth of Nations, proceeded to base upon it the modern discipline of capitalist economics. Such economists, as Karl Marx put it, made a fetish of money and its workings, ignoring completely the social dimension. Despite this criticism, Marx himself does not really confront the social man, even though he attempts to describe society through the dynamics of the class struggle. His argument remains largely materialistic, though dictated by the idealism of Hegel. He brings the grand Hegelian dialectic to bear on the question, describing an eternal class struggle between the propertied class and their subjects. In the final analysis Marx's argument is a complement to that of Smith. It is the law of "demand and supply" taken to its logical conclusion."