Editing Sociology of religion (section)

===Max Weber===
Max Weber published four major texts on religion in a context of [[economic sociology]] and his rationalization thesis: ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]'' (1905), ''[[The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism]]'' (1915), ''[[The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism]]'' (1915), and ''[[Ancient Judaism (book)|Ancient Judaism]]'' (1920).[[File:Max Weber, 1918.jpg|thumb|Max Weber]]In his sociology, Weber uses the German term "[[Verstehen]]" to describe his method of interpretation of the intention and context of human action. Weber is not a [[positivism|positivist]]; he does not believe we can find out "facts" in sociology that can be causally linked. Although he believes some generalized statements about social life can be made, he is not interested in hard positivist claims, but instead in linkages and sequences, in historical narratives and particular cases.<ref>Bjørn Thomassen, Rosario Forlenza, Catholic Modernity and the Italian Constitution, History Workshop Journal, Volume 81, Issue 1, Spring 2016, Pages 231–251</ref>

Weber argues for making sense of religious action on its own terms. A religious group or individual is influenced by all kinds of things, he says, but if they claim to be acting in the name of religion, we should attempt to understand their [[Perspective (cognitive)|perspective]] on religious grounds first. Weber gives religion credit for shaping a person's image of the world, and this image of the world can affect their view of their interests, and ultimately how they decide to take action.

For Weber, religion is best understood as it responds to the human need for [[theodicy]] and [[soteriology]]. Human beings are troubled, he says, with the question of theodicy – the question of how the extraordinary power of a [[divinity|divine]] god may be reconciled with the imperfection of the world that he has created and rules over. People need to know, for example, why there is undeserved good fortune and suffering in the world. Religion offers people soteriological answers, or answers that provide opportunities for [[salvation]] – relief from suffering, and reassuring meaning. The pursuit of salvation, like the pursuit of wealth, becomes a part of human [[motivation]].

Because religion helps to define motivation, Weber believed that religion (and specifically [[Calvinism]]) actually helped to give rise to modern capitalism, as he asserted in his most famous and controversial work, ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]''.

In ''The Protestant Ethic'', Weber argues that capitalism arose in Europe in part because of how the [[belief]] in [[predestination]] was interpreted by everyday English [[Puritan]]s. Puritan theology was based on the Calvinist notion that not everyone would be saved; there was only a specific number of the elect who would avoid [[damnation]], and this was based sheerly on God's predetermined will and not on any action you could perform in this life. Official doctrine held that one could not ever really know whether one was among the elect.

Practically, Weber noted, this was difficult psychologically: people were (understandably) anxious to know whether they would be eternally damned or not. Thus Puritan leaders began assuring members that if they began doing well financially in their businesses, this would be one unofficial sign they had God's approval and were among the saved – but only if they used the fruits of their labour well. This along with the [[rationalism]] implied by [[monotheism]] led to the development of rational bookkeeping and the calculated pursuit of financial success beyond what one needed simply to live – and this is the "spirit of capitalism".<ref>Andrew McKinnon (2010) "Elective Affinities of the Protestant Ethic: Weber and the Chemistry of Capitalism" Sociological Theory vol 28 no. 1. pages 108–126. {{cite web |url=http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3035/1/McKinnon_Elective_Affinities_final_non_format.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818023547/http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3035/1/McKinnon_Elective_Affinities_final_non_format.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-18 }}</ref> Over time, the habits associated with the spirit of capitalism lost their religious significance, and the rational pursuit of [[Profit (economics)|profit]] became an aim in its own right.

''The Protestant Ethic'' thesis has been much critiqued, refined, and disputed, but is still a lively source of theoretical debate in sociology of religion. Weber also did considerable work on world religions, including [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]].

In his ''magnum opus'' ''[[Economy and Society]]'' Weber distinguished three [[ideal type]]s of religious attitudes:<ref>Pawel Zaleski "Ideal Types in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion: Some Theoretical Inspirations for a Study of the Religious Field", ''Polish Sociological Review'' No. 3(171)/2010</ref>
# world-flying mysticism
# world-rejecting asceticism
# inner-worldly asceticism.

He also separated [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] as pre-religious activity.