The Logic of The Protestant Ethic

Abstract

We appreciate Max Weber's classic The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1930) as a distinguished work both because of the particular logical elements used and the way that Weber strings them in the dramatic construction of the work. Weber first established the phenomenon of religious beliefs and capitalist behaviors by multivariate method, eliminating the possible spurious relations. Second, Weber found the sources of capitalism in the ascetic branches of Protestantism by individual-level analysis, avoiding ecological fallacy. Third, Weber inductively generalized the origin of capitalism using causal analysis, eliminating historical materialism and avaricious explanation. Finally, in building the dialectical model Weber employed a selection model and the reversal of conditional probabilities for the new type of workers and entrepreneurs and prisoner's dilemma for the outcome of a new social structure produced by the ascetic Protestants. Among the dramaturgical techniques used are the “cunning of history,” that is, causal effects of intentional action working behind the backs of the actors and the paradoxes that arise when they set in motion forces that trap themselves. Among the logical elements are the sophisticated use of multivariate analysis, the prisoner's dilemma, and the reversal of conditional probabilities. The dramatistic exposition of Weber's analysis can also help us to understand Robert K. Merton's (1984) “Phoenix phenomenon.”