Protestant Ethics and Max Weber Today

Protestant Ethics and Max Weber Today


Ionin L.G.

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Prof., National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia ioninlg@gmail.com

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Ionin L.G. Protestant Ethics and Max Weber Today. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2021. No 11. P. 106-118




Abstract

A chapter from L.G. Ionin’s new book “The Drama of Max Weber’s Life”, which is being prepared for publication at the HSE publishing house, is devoted to the period of the great sociologist’s life that fell on the verge of the 19th and 20th centuries – 1897–1905. The continuous intense intellectual work of the scholar led him to a terrible illness, the overcoming of which was followed by an unprecedented creative rise, the creation of the work “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism”, which marked the beginning of his world fame. The main ideas of this work are discussed in detail – in the original author’s reading. Weber elaborated the paradoxical idea of Protestant ethics: in order to be successful in business, to accumulate maximum wealth, it is necessary to avoid using these riches in every possible way – an almost divine irony. The provisions of this work by M. Weber, which cause discussions in modern world and domestic sociology, are analyzed in detail.


Keywords
Max Weber; creative illness; “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism”; “profession” and “vocation”; pop sociology; “stahlhartes Gehäuse” and “Iron Cage”

References

Ellenberger G.F. (2004) The Discovery of the Unconscious. Vol. 1–2. St. Petersburg: ITsPK; Yanus. (In Russ.)

Kaesler D.A. (2001) “Steel-Hard Housing” is not an “Iron Cage”: About Researchers Who don't Speak German. Literaturkritik.de. Review Forum. No. 1. January. URL: https://literaturkritik.de/id/16239 (accessed 09.08.2021). (In Germ.)

Kapelyushnikov R.I. (2018) Weber's Hypnosis (Notes on “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism”): preprint. Moscow: VShE. (In Russ.)

Kapelyushnikov R.I. (2019) The Answer to the Modern Non-Economist (Commentary on Commentary): preprint. Moscow: VShE. (In Russ.)

Müller H.-P. (2007) Max Weber: Introduction to his Work. Cologne; Weimar; Vienna: Böhlau. (In Germ.)

Steinert H. (2010) Max Weber's Irrefutable Faulty Constructions: Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York; Frankfurt am Main: Campus. (In Germ.)

Trump D.J. (2004) Think Like a Billionaire. New York: Random House.

Weber Max. (1990) Selected Works. Moscow: Progress. (In Russ.)

Weber Marianna. (2007) Life and Works of Max Weber. Moscow: ROSSPEN. (In Russ.)

Weber Max. (2016) Economy and Society: Essays on Understanding Sociology. Vol. I. Moscow: VShE. (In Russ.)

Zabaev I.V. (2019) A Nietzschean Take on a Hundred-Dollar Bill: Reading Weber’s “Protestant Ethic” in Connection with a Contemporary Economist’s Comments. Ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya [Journal of Economic Sociology]. Vol. 20. No. 1: 20–71. (In Russ.)

Content No 11, 2021