Editing Max Weber (section)

===''The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism''===
{{Main|The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism}}

{{quote box
| width = 30em
| quote = The development of the concept of the calling quickly gave to the modern entrepreneur a fabulously clear conscience{{snd}}and also industrious workers; he gave to his employees as the wages of their ascetic devotion to the calling and of co-operation in his ruthless exploitation of them through capitalism the prospect of eternal salvation.
| source = —Max Weber in ''The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'', 1905.{{sfn|Allan|2005|p=162}}
}}

''The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'' is Weber's most famous work.{{sfnm|1a1=Weber|1y=1999|1p=22–23|2a1=Bendix|2a2=Roth|2y=1977|2pp=49–50}} It was his first work on how religions affected economic systems' development.{{sfnm|1a1=Bendix|1a2=Roth|1y=1977|1pp=49–50|2a1=Weber|2y=1999|2p=8}} In the book, he put forward the thesis that the [[Protestant work ethic]], which was derived from the theological ideas of the [[Reformation]], influenced the development of capitalism.{{sfnm|1a1=Ritzer|1y=2009|1pp=35–37|2a1=Bendix|2a2=Roth|2y=1977|2pp=57–59}} Weber was looking for [[Elective_Affinities#References_in_culture_and_theory|elective affinities]] between the Protestant work ethic and capitalism.{{sfnm|1a1=Radkau|1y=2009|1pp=96, 193|2a1=Bendix|2a2=Roth|2y=1977|2pp=63–64}} He argued that the Puritans' [[Vocation|religious calling]] to work caused them to systematically obtain wealth.{{sfn|Weber|2013|p=xviii}} They wished to prove that they were members of the elect who were destined to go to Heaven.{{sfnm|1a1=Weber|1y=2013|1pp=xxxii–xxxiii|2a1=Turner|2y=2001b|2p=16403}} Weber used [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s personal ethic, as described in his "[[Advice to a Young Tradesman]]", as an example of the Protestant sects' economic ethic.{{sfnm|1a1=Weber|1y=2013|1p=xviii|2a1=Radkau|2y=2009|2pp=195–197}} Both [[Rationalization (sociology)|rationalisation]] and the [[ideal type]], concepts that later became central to his scholarship, appeared in the thesis.{{sfn|Radkau|2009|pp=191–192}} Rationalisation caused the West to be trapped in the {{Lang|de|[[Iron cage|stahlhartes Gehäuse]]}} ("iron cage" or "steel-hard casing") that was the modern capitalist economic order.{{sfnm|1a1=Radkau|1y=2009|1pp=186–190|2a1=Weber|2y=2013|2p=124|3a1=Baehr|3y=2001|3pp=153–154}} Meanwhile, ideal types were representative figures, or case studies, that represented concepts.{{sfnm|1a1=Radkau|1y=2009|1pp=191–192|2a1=Weber|2y=2013|2pp=xlvii–l|3a1=Kim|3y=2022}}

Christian religious devotion was historically accompanied by the rejection of mundane affairs, including economic pursuit.{{sfn|Bendix|Roth|1977|p=57}} Weber argued that the origin of modern capitalism was in the religious ideas of the Reformation.{{sfnm|1a1=Bendix|1a2=Roth|1y=1977|1pp=55–58|2a1=Weber|2y=2013|2p=xxviii}} According to him, certain types of Protestantism{{snd}}notably [[Calvinism]]{{snd}}were supportive of the rational pursuit of economic gain and the worldly activities that were dedicated to it, seeing those activities as having been endowed with moral and spiritual significance.{{sfnm|1a1=Bendix|1a2=Roth|1y=1977|1pp=60–61|2a1=Weber|2y=2013|2p=xxx}} The spirit of capitalism was found in the desire to work hard in a way that pleased the worker and signified their worth and originally had a basis in theology.{{sfnm|1a1=Ritzer|1y=2009|1pp=35–37|2a1=Bendix|2a2=Roth|2y=1977|2pp=55–58}} In particular, the Protestant work ethic motivated the believers to work hard, be successful in business, and reinvest their profits in further development rather than frivolous pleasures.{{sfnm|1a1=Ritzer|1y=2009|1pp=35–37|2a1=Bendix|2a2=Roth|2y=1977|2pp=60–63}} Weber thought that self-restraint, hard work, and a belief that wealth could be a sign of salvation were representative of [[ascetic]] Protestantism. Ascetic Protestants practiced [[inner-worldly asceticism]] and sought to change the world to better reflect their beliefs.{{sfn|Swedberg|Agevall|2016|pp=10–12}} The notion of a religious calling, when combined with [[predestination]], meant that each individual had to take action to prove their [[salvation]] to themselves.{{sfnm|1a1=Weber|1y=2013|1pp=xviii, xxxii–xxxiii|2a1=Allan|2y=2005|2pp=162–163|3a1=Bendix|3a2=Roth|3y=1977|3pp=58–61}} However, the success that these religious principles created ultimately removed them as an influence on modern capitalism as a result of its creation of a worldly perspective. As a result, the inheritors of that system were entrapped in a socioeconomic iron cage.{{sfnm|1a1=Radkau|1y=2009|1pp=186–190|2a1=Weber|2y=2013|2p=124|3a1=Baehr|3y=2001|3pp=153–154}}