SOCY 3140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Protestantism, Ideal Type, Calvinism
Document Summary
Max weber: the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Text not even about religion- uses protestantism/calvinism to describe/understand modernity using religion to understand rationality: capitalism/modernity have ethics that guide them just like protestantism. After marx/durkheim- 1905 (critiques/reacts to both: capitalism has advanced it is pervasive and almost taken for granted, opposes marx"s dialectical materialism. Economic conditions are important but wants to understand social change- similar to durkheim- though values and ideas: concerned with stratification (not in this text) Beyond class (economic conditions) status is also important. Status-symbolic component to stratification (beliefs, norms, convictions: differentiation based on non-economic qualities such as honor, prestige and religion, people who have power based on their status. Ex) public school teacher vs. college professor. Uses ben franklin"s autobiography as basis of understanding spirit of capitalism: time=money wage labor in modern capitalism. Wasting time= wasting money, idleness is the same as throwing money away: credit is money.
