Despite Weber's explicit rejection in several of his writings of the Darwinian concepts of selection and adaptation, in his sociology of law he briefly discusses the emergence and diffusion of novel forms of behaviour in selectionist terms entirely consistent with the Darwinian paradigm. There is therefore reason to suggest that he could have advanced his ‘Protestant Ethic’ thesis in similar terms, and that if he had its merits and deficiencies would have been significantly easier to diagnose. So interpreted, the thesis is still inadequately supported by the evidence that he adduces in its favour. But a reformulated selectionist version directed to explaining the success of Protestant entrepreneurs in the 18th century is much more convincing, and can be supported by the evidence for what did (and didn't) happen in Scotland and China as well as continental Europe. Moreover, Weber's underestimation of China's economic achievements strengthens rather than weakens the reformulated version.
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