SOCI 100 Study Guide - Final Guide: Major Force, Charismatic Authority, German Mysticism
Calvinism is a branch of Protestantism
Capitalism is the pursue of forever renewed profit by means of continuous, rational, capitalistic
enterprise.
Max Weber main points
The spirit of capitalism
In the Protestant Ethic, Max Weber aimed to understand how the spirit of capitalism emerged, in his
study he found Protestantism to be a contributing factor to the beginning of the spirit of capitalism,
he says that groups such as the Calvinists played a role in creating this capitalistic spirit. While
Protestantism offered a concept of the worldly “calling”
Calling
-
wasting time is the worst of sins, because it means that time is lost in promoting God's will in a calling. a
religious conception, that of a task set by God" (Weber, p. 39) is absent from civilized languages, antiquity,
Catholicism, or German mysticism. Weber argues that the concept of the calling was a new idea, a product of
the Reformation, and a Protestant notion. The concept of calling that was new involved "the valuation of the
fulfilment of duty in worldly affairs as the highest form which the moral activity of the individual could assume"
(Weber, p. 40). This gave "every-day worldly a religious significance" (Weber, p. 40) and the individual was to
fulfil the obligations of his or her position in the world in order to be acceptable by God. Unlike the monk,
whose duty was to be otherworldly, obtaining salvation by denying self and the world, for Protestants fulfilment
of one’s duty in worldly affairs was the highest form that the moral activity of individuals could take. In fact,
Weber argues that Martin Luther (1483-1546) reversed the earlier Catholic approach. That is, Luther came to
consider monks’ renunciation of the world as "selfishness, withdrawing from temporal obligations. In contrast,
labour appears to him [Luther] as the outward expression of brotherly love" (Weber, p. 41). While Weber
considers Luther’s claim to be poorly argued, "this moral justification of worldly activity was one of the most
important results of the Reformation" (Weber, p. 41).
and it gives worldly activities a religious character. The spirit of capitalism, sees profit as an end in
itself, thus seeking endless making of profit. While the concept of the worldly “calling” gives
wordily activities a religious character it does not explain the need to pursue profit, but Weber says
that Calvinism does explain it.
Weber defines that the Protestant ethic is the combination of dedication to disciplined work and
acquisition, along with a life of denial of pleasure and spontaneity in enjoyment of life.
He argues that it was more than the change in economic and social structures that. caused this.
Rather, thinking, acting, and behaving also changed, requiring a change in traditional methods and
manners of thinking and operating.cxrx
Calvinism
-
Rd. D fetch rx. Cox dxrx
Rationalization
-
Rationalization describes how humans think about a goal and systematically work to achieve that
goal. Weber doesn’t see rationalization as a good or bad thing though he believes that rationalization
is a very important thing. Rationalization is represented with three important characteristics:
efficiencyà the drive for efficiency by all formal social organizations, this search for the most efficient
means of attaining a goal has become a major force in capitalist and government organizations etc,
calculability the need for predictability and order in social life, data seemingly takes on a life if its
own, the reification of numbers and statistics becomes almost as important as reality itself,
demassification the elimination of spiritual meaning and moral significance from social life and their
replacement by systematic, logical and reasonable elements. These characteristics are what make up
rationalization. Thus Weber believed that what makes capitalist mode of production so successful is
rationalization. Through rationalization, capitalists can think how much they will need to invest, and
how much they will make out of that investment. Capitalism is then based on weighing and
outweighing consequences etc. Success is based on the rational calculations of the economic
forces. Weber then concludes that capitalism is the most rational economic system, in the capitalist
mode of production we see rationalization.
Bureaucracy:: Money ecnoomy : it is the hardest to destroy
-
Bureacracy is a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials
rather than by elected representatives. Weber believed that the bureaucratic coordination of activities is the
distinctive mark of the modern era. To him the bureaucratic organization is the privileged instrumentality that
has shaped modern economy and modern technology. The major advantage of bureaucr act is the calculability
of results. Though bureaucracy ha been so important to shaping modern economy, Weber understood that it
also had several dysfunctions. He believed that it generates an enormous degree of unregulated and often
unperceived social power. Bureaucracy results in oligarchy, which is rule by the few (people at the top) over
the most (common people). But he concludes that the bureaucracy is the most rationalized form of
organization, it fits the growing needs of modern society to organize and classify its progress. Therefore we
see rationalization in the bureaucracy. Bureaucracies built on the principles of efficiency and calculability,
progressively replacing traditional social organizations with rational organizations designed to performed like
machines.
The bureaucratizAtion offers above all the optimum possibility for carrying through the principle of
specializing administrative functions according. It is the means of carrying "commmunity action over into
rationally ordered "societal action' -societalizing relations
Legitimizations of domination /ideal types
Weber used ideal-types to identify three types of domination: traditional dominationà the traditional form of
domination, royalty etc, power who is justified by beliefs in long-standing customs or culture, charismatic
domination characterizes that leader who has a gift of grace, the absolutely personal devotion and personal
confidence in revelation, heroism and other qualities of individual leadership, and lastly domination by virtue
which is legal domination, this type of domination is based on rationally created rules, hence this is the type of
domination that represents modern bureaucracies, through bureaucracies, modern people are confronted with
this type
Franklin Approaches to Capitalism
Those who have carefully read the Autobiography will recognize the grain (or bushel) of truth in Weber's
argument. Franklin made amply clear that he believed a man's first duty was to tend to his own business, and
that virtues such as industry and frugality were the best aids to financial prosperity. If Weber chooses to define
these attitudes as the spirit of capitalism, then he builds a strong case when he argues that Franklin expressed
that spirit as clearly as anyone who ever wrote.
Franklin's perspective on constant hard work and productivity "takes on the character of ethically colored
maxim for the conduct of life. The concept spirit of capitalism is here used in this specific sense, it is the spirit
of modern capitalism. For that we are here dealing only with Western European and American capitalism is
obvious from the way in which the problem was stated. Capitalism existed in China, India, Babylon, in the
classic world, and in the Middle Ages. But in all these cases, as we shall see, this particular ethos was lacking."
Science
Weber reasons that science can never answer the fundamental questions of life, such as directing people on
how to live their lives and what to value. Value he contends can only be derived from personal beliefs such as
religion
\
P
Weber'
2017年12月6日 星期三
下午1:19
Calvinism is a branch of Protestantism
Capitalism is the pursue of forever renewed profit by means of continuous, rational, capitalistic
enterprise.
Max Weber main points
The spirit of capitalism
In the Protestant Ethic, Max Weber aimed to understand how the spirit of capitalism emerged, in his
study he found Protestantism to be a contributing factor to the beginning of the spirit of capitalism,
he says that groups such as the Calvinists played a role in creating this capitalistic spirit. While
Protestantism offered a concept of the worldly “calling”
Calling
-
wasting time is the worst of sins, because it means that time is lost in promoting God's will in a calling. a
religious conception, that of a task set by God" (Weber, p. 39) is absent from civilized languages, antiquity,
Catholicism, or German mysticism. Weber argues that the concept of the calling was a new idea, a product of
the Reformation, and a Protestant notion. The concept of calling that was new involved "the valuation of the
fulfilment of duty in worldly affairs as the highest form which the moral activity of the individual could assume"
(Weber, p. 40). This gave "every-day worldly a religious significance" (Weber, p. 40) and the individual was to
fulfil the obligations of his or her position in the world in order to be acceptable by God. Unlike the monk,
whose duty was to be otherworldly, obtaining salvation by denying self and the world, for Protestants fulfilment
of one’s duty in worldly affairs was the highest form that the moral activity of individuals could take. In fact,
Weber argues that Martin Luther (1483-1546) reversed the earlier Catholic approach. That is, Luther came to
consider monks’ renunciation of the world as "selfishness, withdrawing from temporal obligations. In contrast,
labour appears to him [Luther] as the outward expression of brotherly love" (Weber, p. 41). While Weber
considers Luther’s claim to be poorly argued, "this moral justification of worldly activity was one of the most
important results of the Reformation" (Weber, p. 41).
and it gives worldly activities a religious character. The spirit of capitalism, sees profit as an end in
itself, thus seeking endless making of profit. While the concept of the worldly “calling” gives
wordily activities a religious character it does not explain the need to pursue profit, but Weber says
that Calvinism does explain it.
Weber defines that the Protestant ethic is the combination of dedication to disciplined work and
acquisition, along with a life of denial of pleasure and spontaneity in enjoyment of life.
He argues that it was more than the change in economic and social structures that. caused this.
Rather, thinking, acting, and behaving also changed, requiring a change in traditional methods and
manners of thinking and operating.cxrx
Calvinism
-
Rd. D fetch rx. Cox dxrx
Rationalization
-
Rationalization describes how humans think about a goal and systematically work to achieve that
goal. Weber doesn’t see rationalization as a good or bad thing though he believes that rationalization
is a very important thing. Rationalization is represented with three important characteristics:
efficiencyà the drive for efficiency by all formal social organizations, this search for the most efficient
means of attaining a goal has become a major force in capitalist and government organizations etc,
calculability the need for predictability and order in social life, data seemingly takes on a life if its
own, the reification of numbers and statistics becomes almost as important as reality itself,
demassification the elimination of spiritual meaning and moral significance from social life and their
replacement by systematic, logical and reasonable elements. These characteristics are what make up
rationalization. Thus Weber believed that what makes capitalist mode of production so successful is
rationalization. Through rationalization, capitalists can think how much they will need to invest, and
how much they will make out of that investment. Capitalism is then based on weighing and
outweighing consequences etc. Success is based on the rational calculations of the economic
forces. Weber then concludes that capitalism is the most rational economic system, in the capitalist
mode of production we see rationalization.
Bureaucracy:: Money ecnoomy : it is the hardest to destroy
-
Bureacracy is a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials
rather than by elected representatives. Weber believed that the bureaucratic coordination of activities is the
distinctive mark of the modern era. To him the bureaucratic organization is the privileged instrumentality that
has shaped modern economy and modern technology. The major advantage of bureaucr act is the calculability
of results. Though bureaucracy ha been so important to shaping modern economy, Weber understood that it
also had several dysfunctions. He believed that it generates an enormous degree of unregulated and often
unperceived social power. Bureaucracy results in oligarchy, which is rule by the few (people at the top) over
the most (common people). But he concludes that the bureaucracy is the most rationalized form of
organization, it fits the growing needs of modern society to organize and classify its progress. Therefore we
see rationalization in the bureaucracy. Bureaucracies built on the principles of efficiency and calculability,
progressively replacing traditional social organizations with rational organizations designed to performed like
machines.
The bureaucratizAtion offers above all the optimum possibility for carrying through the principle of
specializing administrative functions according. It is the means of carrying "commmunity action over into
rationally ordered "societal action' -societalizing relations
Legitimizations of domination /ideal types
Weber used ideal-types to identify three types of domination: traditional dominationà the traditional form of
domination, royalty etc, power who is justified by beliefs in long-standing customs or culture, charismatic
domination characterizes that leader who has a gift of grace, the absolutely personal devotion and personal
confidence in revelation, heroism and other qualities of individual leadership, and lastly domination by virtue
which is legal domination, this type of domination is based on rationally created rules, hence this is the type of
domination that represents modern bureaucracies, through bureaucracies, modern people are confronted with
this type
Franklin Approaches to Capitalism
Those who have carefully read the Autobiography will recognize the grain (or bushel) of truth in Weber's
argument. Franklin made amply clear that he believed a man's first duty was to tend to his own business, and
that virtues such as industry and frugality were the best aids to financial prosperity. If Weber chooses to define
these attitudes as the spirit of capitalism, then he builds a strong case when he argues that Franklin expressed
that spirit as clearly as anyone who ever wrote.
Franklin's perspective on constant hard work and productivity "takes on the character of ethically colored
maxim for the conduct of life. The concept spirit of capitalism is here used in this specific sense, it is the spirit
of modern capitalism. For that we are here dealing only with Western European and American capitalism is
obvious from the way in which the problem was stated. Capitalism existed in China, India, Babylon, in the
classic world, and in the Middle Ages. But in all these cases, as we shall see, this particular ethos was lacking."
Science
Weber reasons that science can never answer the fundamental questions of life, such as directing people on
how to live their lives and what to value. Value he contends can only be derived from personal beliefs such as
religion
\
P
Weber'
2017年12月6日 星期三 下午1:19
