Scottish Capitalism and Weber's Protestant Ethic Theses

Abstract

Marshall argues that the experience of Scotland vindicates Weber in relation to his claims about the links between Protestantism and the emergence of capitalism. Marshall claims that, once we are clear about what Weber actually said and what constitutes relevant evidence to evaluate his arguments, it can be shown that in Scotland the `Protestant Ethic' fostered the `Spirit of Capitalism'. Marshall's conclusion is disputed in this paper, where it is argued that he presents no relevant evidence to substantiate the view that the `Protestant Ethic' and the `Spirit of Capitalism' ever existed in Scotland.