På sporet af den kapitalistiske ånd

Abstract

Tracing the Capitalist spirit.

In “The Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism” Max Weber described how some of the Protestant reformers, headed by Jean Calvin, enabled the modern Western capitalism. According to the doctrine of Predestination, in which the individual human being has no chance of invoking the divine, only the incessant hard earthly work is useful. Accepting this condition of human life requires a strong discipline and ethics, but it is seemingly in accordance with the will of God and should therefore be accepted right away by all humans.

This thesis circles around the main points from Weber’s famous text on the Protestant teachings, and its implications for the modern capitalist society.

The cardinal question is in this thesis split into three smaller questions whose answers are sought respectively in the three chapters:

1. To continue Weber's thinking on the relationship between the Protestant ethic and the capitalist spirit.

2. To present and discuss some of the causes of the capitalist spirit that Weber himself, either implied or directly discussed, with the inclusion of other historical texts.

3. To trace the capitalist spirit, to a contemporary context, involving a few texts where some of the consequences of this capitalist spirit are displayed.