Release / Park Moon-jae
Author's chronology

Part 1: Problem Statement
Chapter 1: Sects and Social Classes
Chapter 2: The "Spirit" of Capitalism
Chapter 3: Luther's Concept of Vocation: A Research Question

Part 2: The Professional Ethics of Ascetic Protestantism
Chapter 1: The Religious Foundations of Worldly Asceticism
1.
Calvinism
2.
Pietism
3.
Methodism
4.
Sects arising from the Anabaptist movement
Chapter 2: Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism

supplement
Max Weber's First Rebuttal to Carl Fischer's Criticism
Max Weber's Second Rebuttal to Carl Fischer's Criticism

An essential work for understanding modern capitalism

Max Weber's masterpiece continues to be one of the most daring endeavors in the social sciences and one of the most widely read books in the world today.
This paper, published twice in 1904 and 1905 in the journal Journal of Social Science and Social Policy, was expanded and enlarged in 1919, published as a book in 1920, and translated into English in 1930, and has had a profound influence on research in a wide range of fields.
The debate surrounding the provocative arguments in this book has been fierce since its publication, and its intensity continues unabated to this day.


Why should you read this book?

So, why should we, today, read Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," which was published over 100 years ago?

The first is to find the roots of this vast universe called 'capitalism' in which we live and of 'us', its inhabitants.
To borrow Max Weber's words, the Industrial Revolution that began in England in the 17th century spread throughout Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world, forming a huge current in human history, and by the late 19th century, "modern capitalism" had fully taken hold, forming a "new world" and giving birth to a "new type of human being."
That world was something entirely new, something humanity had never experienced before, and it was a world that possessed all the advantages and disadvantages of the modern capitalism we live in today: abundant material civilization, human alienation and loss of humanity, and extreme gap between rich and poor.
In the face of this enormous shockwave that struck human society, philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) posed this question:
“Where on earth can we find the means to overcome this mental chaos that threatens to engulf us?”
Thus, Max Weber is on our behalf looking for the roots of the world we live in today and of 'us', the citizens of this bizarre world.
The roots of what is called the origin of modern capitalism! Surprisingly, Weber discovers that these roots stem from a deeply sacred and pious motive.
That is, its roots are Calvinism, which originated from the Swiss religious reformer Calvin, and the Puritan faith, which is the British version of Calvinism, which emerged as a result of the Reformation in the 16th century.


The second is to gain insight into the fundamental relationship between the body and mind that make up human beings, and the material and spiritual civilizations of mankind that correspond to these two elements.
Many have argued that Calvinism and Puritanism themselves were products of the modern Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, and rationalism, and that modern capitalism emerged from the latter.
However, in this book, Weber shatters such common-sense prejudices through meticulous argumentation.
This brings us to the second reason to read this book.
Needless to say, the country that has preserved the original form of modern capitalism while developing it to a high degree is the United States.
America is a country founded by Puritans.
In fact, Weber finds the epitome of the capitalist spirit in Benjamin Franklin, an 18th-century American entrepreneur.
And German capitalism, as Weber analyzed, is still a capitalism mixed with medieval elements following the Lutheran tradition, and such characteristics appear throughout European capitalism.
Here we see that the spiritual civilization that Weber called 'ethics' and 'spirit' determines the forms of material civilization such as 'capitalism'.
That is, since humans are fundamentally physical beings, they cannot avoid the enormous influence of material civilization, but despite this, material civilization cannot completely determine and dominate humans.
Because humans are spiritual beings.
Humans are beings who cannot live on bread alone without a spiritual identity.
The moment a human loses his identity, he loses the will to live, falls into a state of chaos, and goes mad.
At the time, when many scholars were focusing on the 'form' of capitalism, that is, the observation of material civilization, Weber saw that the 'spirit' of capitalism dominated that material civilization, and confirmed that that 'spirit' came from the 'ethics' of Protestant faith.


Weber's argument is not as flimsy or easy as we might think.
It's huge and magnificent.
If typical doctoral theses are like peaks, this book is like Mount Everest.
Many people say that The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is difficult.
It is said to be difficult to understand because it deals with all kinds of academic subjects, including theology, sociology, and economics, in depth.
Classics are like a deep well, you see as much as you know.
However, you don't necessarily need to have a deep understanding of various academic fields, including theology, sociology, and economics, to read this book.
Just focus on what Beaver is trying to say.
There is no need to go into the specifics in depth.
Weber is one of the few people in human society who possesses remarkable intelligence.
This book is a blessing to us simply by being invited into his intellect and being able to feel the breath of that intellect within the limits of our abilities.