Max webers understanding of religion and society

Project submitted to dr. sujit kumar chaudhary (faculty: sociology)

Project submitted by Ritu r nichani Roll no.61 (sociology : major) Semester one

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY RAIPUR, C.G.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION MAXimilian carl emil WEBER Religion Webers views on world religions Confucianism Judaism hinduism 9

3 4 5 6 7

The protestant ethic Calvins image of god Doctrine of predestination Calvin and this worldly asceticism The notion of calling

12

The spirit of capitalism How the protestant ethic influenced the spirit of Criticism webers theory in modern day society CONCLUSION References 18 15 capitalism

14

17

19 21

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and thank my teacher, Dr. Sujit for putting his trust in me and giving me a project topic such as this and for having

the faith in me to deliver. Sir, thank you for an opportunity to help me grow. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Ayan Hazra for his support and help. My gratitude also goes out to the staff and administration of HNLU for the infrastructure in the form of our library and IT Lab that was a source of great help for the completion of this project.

Ritu R Nichani (Semester one)

Research methodology
The objective of this project is to study Webers views on religion and society. The main focus of this project lies on his most celebrated work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The main objective of this project is to throw light on what Weber thought

influenced the development of capitalism in the West and to study its relevance in modern day India.

This Doctrinal research is descriptive and analytical in nature. Secondary and Electronic resources have been largely used to gather information and data about the topic.

Books and other reference as guided by Faculty of Sociology have been primarily helpful in giving this project a firm structure. Websites, dictionaries and articles have also been referred.

Footnotes have been provided wherever needed, to acknowledge the source.

Introduction
Max Weber, one of the most well known and highly respected sociologists was an individual of wide learning. His interests ranged among subjects covering a wide area and his writings covered the field of economics, law, philosophy, comparative history as well as sociology.

This may have been one of the most critical reasons for Weber having put forth his theory of religion in which he talks about the influence of Protestantism on the rise of the Capitalistic society. Webers celebrated and most discussed work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism proposes that religious values especially those associated with Puritanism were of fundamental importance in creating a political outlook. He studied the religions of China, India and the Near East, and in the course of these researches made major contributions to the sociology of religion. Comparing the leading religious systems in China and India with those of the West, Weber concluded that certain aspects of Christian beliefs strongly influenced the rise of capitalism. He argued that the capitalist outlook of the Western societies did not emerge only from economic changes. In Webers view, cultural ideas and values help shape society and our individual actions. Weber believed that if in traditional societies, religion and long-standing customs largely defined peoples attitudes and values, modern society was marked by the rationalization of more and more areas of life, from politics, to religion, to economic activity.

MAXimilian carl emil WEBER

Maximilian Carl Emil Weber was born on 21 April, 1864 in Erfurt in Thuringia, Germany. He was greatly influenced by his father Max Weber Sr., a wealthy and prominent politician in the National Liberal Party (Germany) and a civil servant. His

mother, Helene Fallenstein was a Protestant and a Calvinist, with strong moral absolutist ideas. In 1882 Weber enrolled in the University of Heidelberg as a law student and chose as his major study the field of law. Along with his law coursework, Weber attended lectures in economics and studied medieval history and theology. Intermittently, he served with the German army in Strasbourg. In 1886 Weber passed the examination for "Referendar". Throughout the late 1880s, Weber continued his study of history. He earned his law doctorate in 1889 by writing a doctoral dissertation on legal history entitled The History of Medieval Business Organisations. In the years, Weber took an interest in contemporary social policy. In 1888 he joined the "Verein fr Socialpolitik", the new professional association of German economists affiliated with the historical school, who saw the role of economics primarily as the solving of the wide-ranging social problems of the age, and who pioneered large-scale statistical studies of economic problems. He also involved himself in politics, joining the left leaning Evangelical Social Congress. In 1890 the "Verein" established a research program to examine "the Polish question" or Ostflucht, meaning the influx of foreign farm workers into eastern Germany as local labourers migrated to Germany's rapidly industrialising cities. Weber was put in charge of the study, and wrote a large part of its results. The final report was widely acclaimed as an excellent piece of empirical research, and cemented Weber's reputation as an expert in agrarian economics. In 1893 he married Marianne Schnitger, later a feminist and author in her own right, who was instrumental in collecting and publishing Weber's journal articles as books after his death. After Weber's immense productivity in the early 1890s, he did not publish a single paper between early 1898 and late 1902. Freed from obligations, in 1903, he accepted a position as associate editor of the Archives for Social Science and Social Welfare. In 1904, Weber began to publish some of his most seminal papers in this journal, notably his essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. It became his most famous work, and laid the foundations for his later research on the impact of cultures and religions on the development of economic systems. This essay was the only one of his works that was published as a book during his lifetime. Max Weber contracted the Spanish flu and died of pneumonia in Munich on June 14, 1920.1

RELIGION
The Oxford Dictionary defines religion as

See, Weber, Marianne, Max Weber: A Biography, New Brunswick: Transaction Books

1. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods 2. A particular system of faith and worship 3. A pursuit or interest followed with devotion The term religion generally refers to a set of ideas and beliefs about the supernatural and its impact on the lives of human beings. Religious beliefs give meaning to life. They help answer questions about oneself and the world one lives in. they provide certain guidelines of behavior, certain codes of conduct which individuals are supposed to follow. The term religion refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. Religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behavior. Sociologists define religion as a cultural system of commonly shared beliefs and rituals that provides a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, all-encompassing and supernatural. There are three key elements to this definition. 1. Religion is a form of culture. Culture consists of the shared beliefs, values, norms and ideas that create a common identity among a group of people. Religion shares all of these characteristics. 2. Religion involves beliefs that take the form of ritualized practices. All religions thus have a behavioural aspect- special activities in which believers take part and that identify them as members of a religious community. 3. Religion provides a sense of purpose a feeling that life is ultimately meaningful. It does so by explaining coherently and compellingly what transcends or overshadows everyday life, in ways that other aspects of culture typically cannot. For sociologists, it is very important to study religion with an unbiased and non-judgmental perspective. There are certain important implications for the study of religion. Sociologists are not concerned with whether religious beliefs are true or false. From a sociological perspective, religions are regarded not as being decreed by God but as being socially constructed by human beings. As a result, sociologists put aside their personal beliefs when they study religion. They are concerned with the human rather than the divine aspects of religion. The question of whether a particular belief is good or true, however important it may be to the believers of the religion under study, is not something that sociologists are allowed to address. Sociologists are especially concerned with the social organization of religion. Religions are among the most important institutions in society. They are a primary source of the most deep-seated norms and values. At the same time, religions are practiced through an 7

enormous variety of social forms. The sociology of religion is concerned with how different religious institutions and organizations actually function. In modern industrial society, religions have become established in separate, often bureaucratic organizations through which religions must operate in order to survive. Sociologists often view religions as a major source of social solidarity. To the extent that religions provide believers with a common set of norms and values, they are an important source of social solidarity. Religious beliefs, rituals and bonds help to create a moral community in which all members know how to behave towards one another. If a si ngle religion dominates a society, it may be an important source of social stability. If a societys members adhere to numerous competing religions, however, religious differences may lead to destabilizing social conflicts. Sociologists tend to explain the appeal of religion in terms of social forces rather than in terms of purely personal, spiritual or psychological factors. The three classical thinkers of Sociology, though they all held that religion is in a fundamental sense an illusion and that the other world which religion creates is our world, distorted through the lens of religious symbolism, each, viewed the role of religion in society very differently. To Karl Marx, religion contained a strong ideological element that provided justification for inequalities of wealth and power found in society. To Durkheim, religion is an important ingredient of society because of the cohesive function it serves, especially ensuring that people meet regularly to affirm common beliefs and values. To Weber, religion is important because of the role it plays in social change, particularly the development of Western capitalism.

WEBERS VIEWS ON WORLD RELIGIONS

Max Weber embarked on a massive study of religions worldwide. He focused his attention on what he called world religions- those that have attracted large numbers of believers and decisively affected the course of global history2. He made detailed studies of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Judaism and in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, he wrote extensively about the impact of Christianity on the history of the West. In this book, he set out to tackle a fundamental problem: Why did capitalism develop in the West and nowhere else? Weber related religion, something which concerns itself with the beyond, to economy, something that deals with the practical business of working, producing and consuming. He believed, it was the ideas, beliefs, values and world-view of human societies that guided the way members acted, even in the economic sphere. To answer the basic question that formed the central theme of his theory, he compared the religions all over the world, Confucianism, Hinduism and Judaism in particular, with Christianity to understand what the effect of Christianity was on the West. CONFUCIANISM Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. When Confucianism first took birth in ancient China, it had a well- developed economy. Trade, commerce, finance and manufacture were quite advanced. Despite the advancement in civilization, Capitalism did not develop there. Weber through his studies pointed out why. According to Weber, the Confucian ethic would not permit capitalism. Confucian ideas could be summed up as follows: i. ii. iii. iv. Belief in the order of the universe, the cosmos. Man should aim at being in harmony with nature and the cosmos. Behavior is to be guided by tradition. All wisdom lies in the past. Family and kin ties and obligations were never to be neglected.

The stress on harmony, traditionalism and family obligations are quite contradictory to a capitalist form of society. Thus, the practice of capitalism in such a society would be considered improper and against the religious beliefs of the people.

JUDAISM
2

See, Swedberg, Richard, "Max Weber as an Economist and as a Sociologist", American Journal of Economics and Sociology, October 1999.

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and explored and explained in later texts such as the Talmud. Jews consider Judaism to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. Judaism can claim a historical continuity spanning close to three millennia. It is one of the oldest monotheistic religions, and the oldest surviving. Many of its texts and traditions are central to the other Abrahamic religions, with Jewish history and the principles and ethics of Judaism having influenced Christianity and Islam, as well as some non-Abrahamic religions. As the foundation of Western Christianity, many aspects of Judaism also correspond to secular Western concepts of ethics and civil law. Judaism, as we know is the foundation of Western Christianity. The Jews too believed themselves to be the chosen ones of God who they believed were to establish Gods kingdom on earth. Judaism, unlike Confucianism and Hinduism speaks of an ethnic mastery over the environment, not harmony. Weber felt that Judaism could have generated what he called the spirit of capitalism. However, certain historical forces prevented this. The Exodus or mass migration of the Jews from their homeland due to persecution left them scattered all over the world which limited their economic activity.

HINDUISM
Hinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as Santana Dharma, a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and a wide spectrum of "daily morality" based on the notion of karma and societal norms such as Hindu marriage customs. Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed, and can be described as the "moral law of cause and effect". According to the Upanishads an individual, known as the jiva-atma, develops sanskaras (impressions) from actions, whether physical or mental. The linga sharira, a body more subtle than the physical one but less subtle than the soul, retains impressions, carrying them over into the next life, establishing a unique trajectory for the individual. Thus, the concept of a universal, neutral, and never-failing karma intrinsically relates to reincarnation as well as to one's personality, characteristics, and family. Karma binds together the notions of free will and destiny. This cycle of action, reaction, birth, death and rebirth is a continuum called samsara. The notion of reincarnation and karma is a strong premise in Hindu thought. The Bhagavad Gita states that: 10

As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new material bodies, leaving the old bodies.(B.G. 2:22) Samsara provides ephemeral pleasures, which lead people to desire rebirth so as to enjoy the pleasures of a perishable body. However, escaping the world of samsara through moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace. It is thought that after several reincarnations, an atman eventually seeks unity with the cosmic spirit. The ultimate goal of life, referred to as moksha, nirvana or samadhi, is understood in several different ways: as the realization of one's union with God; as the realization of one's eternal relationship with God; realization of the unity of all existence; perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self; as the attainment of perfect mental peace; and as detachment from worldly desires. Such realization liberates one from samsara and ends the cycle of rebirth. Though India, like China was fairly advanced economically, Weber expressed a strict negative attitude towards the possibility of rational capitalism existing within the ethos of Hinduism. He felt it was highly unlikely for capitalism to originate or flourish in a caste based society like India. The ideas of karma, dharma and punarjanma of Hinduism made Indians defeatists and fatalists. Since Indians believed their present condition to be a consequence of their past deeds, Weber felt that Hindus would have no motivation in improving their economic condition. He felt that Hindus would not be able to put in the hard work that capitalism demanded. The Hindu ideals of moksha or salvation talk of the liberation of the soul only when it is free of material desires or vasanas. Hinduism preaches other-worldly asceticism in which the material world is de-emphasized. Material prosperity is considered temporary and illusory and is not given importance to. Religions that place more stress on other-worldly asceticism and de-emphasize the material world can hardly foster attitudes that promote capitalism. Weber thus reached a conclusion that mere material conditions like finance, trade and technology are not enough to promote capitalism. India and China had both of these, yet, the value systems of these countries were such that the pursuit of wealth for ones own sake and rational organization of work to achieve this purpose did not make sense. It did not fit in with the ethos or the ideals of these societies.

THE PROTESTANT ETHIC

The core of Webers theory is that the attitudes involved in the spirit of capitalism derived from religion. Around AD 1500, many Roman Catholics in Western Europe were unhappy 11

with the way the church was being run. The Popes and many of the priests seemed interested only in wealth and power and set a bad example in the way they led their lives. This led to a movement, which became known as the Reformation, to change and reform the Christian Church. People who joined the movement were called Protestants because they were protesting about the things they thought were wrong. In 1517, a German monk called Martin Luther nailed a list of complaints about the Church and the way the priests behaved, to the door of Wittenberg church in Germany. Luther believed that everyone should be able to study Gods message for themselves. So, he translated the Bible from Latin into German. Versions in other languages quickly followed. Luther was condemned by a Church court, but several German princes supported him. He also won followers in Europe. Soon, there were other religious leaders and the Protestants split into different groups. One such group was headed by a reformist named John Calvin who set up a church in Geneva. Calvin stressed simplicity, austerity and devotion and the followers of Calvin in England were called Puritans. Weber drew a direct relationship between religion and the growth of capitalism based on the central ideas of Calvinism. There are three main principles of Calvinism that contributed to the Spirit of Capitalism. i. Calvins image of God

Calvin said God was all powerful, transcendent. His Divine Will was unknowable. It would be foolish of any human being to try to understand Gods Will. He said that it could not be understood simply because it was Gods Will. ii. Doctrine of Pre-destination

This is the most important aspect of Calvinism according to which only certain predestined individuals are to be among the elect to enter heaven in the afterlife. The chosen, he said will reach the Heaven no matter what they do on Earth. He believed that no one could bribe God to get a place in Heaven through prayer and sacrifice. Gods Will was unknowable, thus, unchangeable. This belief caused a great amount of anxiety among his followers so he modified it to allow believers to recognize the signs of election. He said that success in working in a vocation, indicated by material prosperity, was the main sign that a person was truly one of the elect. At the same time, the Puritans believed that luxury was an evil, so the drive to accumulate wealth became joined to a severe and unadorned lifestyle. iii. Calvinism and this-worldly asceticism

12

Asceticism generally means strict self discipline, control and conquest of worldly desires. Weber detected this phenomenon in Calvinism. It stressed rigorous self-discipline in order to master the environment. A simple, frugal life-style along with hard work was recommended. Worldly or sensual pleasures were viewed with horror; fine clothes, dance and music, theatre and novels came from the Devil as they would divert a person from working for the glory of God. In the words of Weber himself, The Puritan wanted to work in a calling; we are forced to do so. For when asceticism was carried out of the monastic cells into everyday life, and began to dominate world morality, it did its part in building the tremendous cosmos of the modern economic order. . . . Since asceticism undertook to remodel the world and to work out its ideals in the world, material goods have gained an increasingly and finally an inexorable power over the lives of men as at no previous period in history. . . . The idea of duty in ones calling prowls about in our lives like the ghost of dead religious beliefs. When the fulfillment of the calling cannot directly be related to the highest spiritual and cultural values, or when, on the other hand, it need not be felt simply as economic compulsion, the individual generally abandons the attempt to justify it at all. In the field of its highest development, in the United States, the pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions. iv. The notion of calling

The Calvinist ethic says that all work is important and sacred. No job is considered below dignity or low or dirty for anyone. Work is not mere work. It is a calling or a mission and should be performed with devotion and sincerity. Weber summarized the Calvinist ethic in five points a) There exists an absolute transcendent God who created the world and rules it, but who is incomprehensible and inaccessible to the finite minds of men. b) This all powerful and mysterious God had predestined each of us to salvation or damnation, so that we cannot by our works alter a divine decree which was made before we were born. c) God created the world for His own glory. d) Whether he is to be saved or damned, man is obliged to work for the glory of God and to create the Kingdom of God on earth. e) Earthly things, human nature, and flesh belong to the order of sin and death and salvation can come to man only through divine grace. (Aron 1967: 221-222)

THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM

13

In the seventeenth century, thirteen centuries after the fall of Rome, other civilizations were much more prominent than the West in world history. Europe was a rather insignificant area while China, India and the Ottoman empire in the Near East were a;; major powers. The Chinese in particular were way ahead of the West in terms of their levels of technological and economic development. This brought him to a question and he tried to find an explanation to why capitalism developed only in the West. Weber reasoned that it was essential to understand what separated modern industry from earlier types of economic activity. He found that the desire to accumulate wealth was common to all civilizations. People valued wealth for comforts, security, power and enjoyment that it brought. With the accumulation of wealth, they used it to made themselves comfortable and become free of want. Studying the economic development of the West however, Weber found a different attitude towards the accumulation of wealth. He named this attitude the spirit of capitalism the attitude held by the first capitalist merchants and industrialists. Like in other civilizations, they too had a strong desire to accumulate wealth. Yet, unlike the others who used wealth as a tool to live a comfortable and luxurious life, they shunned the manifestations of affluence. Their way of life was self-denying and frugal. The groups did not dissipate their wealth. Instead, they reinvested it to promote and further expand their enterprises. In Capitalism, wealth assumed an organized and disciplined form. It was a thirst of making more wealth, the thirst of more money-making that was the essence of capitalism. Capitalism was an economic system that aimed at the accumulation of profit through the rational organization of production. Post the Industrial Revolution, in England and Germany is where the roots of capitalism lie. The growth of the factory system, new techniques of production, new tools and machinery made it possible for capitalists, or the owners to earn large amounts of money. Efficiency and discipline were essential for the production process to be rationally organized. As Marx pointed out, the workers or proletariat was only a means to achieve the end, the end being profit. Capitalism stressed individualism, innovation and the relentless pursuit of profit. In short, capitalism may be described as a work ethic which called for the accumulation of wealth for its own sake for which work had to be organized in an efficient, disciplined manner. Hard work was thus considered as a virtue that carried intrinsic rewards. The spirit of capitalism demanded individualism, innovation, hard work and the pursuit of wealth for its own sake. It was thus an economic ethic unlike any other in the past.3

HOW THE PROTESTANT ETHIC INFLUENCED THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM

3

See, http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y64l10.html

14

Weber showed that certain types of Protestantism notably Calvinism favored rational pursuit of economic gain and worldly activities which had been given positive spiritual and moral meaning. It was not the goal of those religious ideas, but rather a byproduct the inherent logic of those doctrines and the advice based upon them both directly and indirectly encouraged planning and self-denial in the pursuit of economic gain. In addition, the Reformation view "calling" dignified even the most mundane professions as being those that added to the common good and were blessed by God, as much as any "sacred" calling could. This Reformation view, that all the spheres of life were sacred when dedicated to God and His purposes of nurturing and furthering life, profoundly affected the view of work. To illustrate and provide an example, Weber quoted the ethical writings of Benjamin Franklin: Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides. ... Remember, that money is the prolific, generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six, turned again is seven and threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds. Weber noted that this is not a philosophy of mere greed, but a statement laden with moral language. Indeed, Franklin claimed that God revealed to him the usefulness of virtue. Weber noted a common problem that industrialists faced when employing pre-capitalist laborers: agricultural entrepreneurs would try to encourage time spent harvesting by offering a higher wage, with the expectation that laborers would see time spent working as more valuable and so engage it longer. However, in pre-capitalist societies similar attempts often resulted in laborers spending less time harvesting. Laborers judged that they could earn the same amount as previously, while spending less time working and having more leisure. Weber also noted that societies having more Protestants were those that have a more developed capitalist economy. It was particularly advantageous in technical occupations for workers to be extremely devoted to their craft. To view the craft as an end in itself, or as a "calling" would serve this need well. This attitude was well-noted in certain classes which have endured religious education, especially of a Pietist background. Applying Calvins four key ideas; we can analyze the direct effects of these principles on the effect of capitalism. 15

i.

Calvins image of GoD

According to Calvin, God is all powerful and transcendent. His bigger picture is something that nobody can see. Faith in this power known as god formed the most fundamental pillar of capitalism. Every individual member of the society was working for himself, in order to find a place among the elect not realizing that his way of life was actually helping to develop an economic system.
II. Doctrine of Pre-destination

Calvin told his followers that only a certain group of people who belonged to the elect found a place for themselves in heaven. When he laid down the conditions for people to become part of this group, he actually gave birth to a new economic system in the form of capitalism. Like little drops of water that make the mighty ocean, individual steps to living a better life and afterlife contributed to building an economy.
III. Calvinism and this-worldly asceticism

One of the fundamental principles of Christianity is to live a meagre, frugal life. Calvin however, emphasized the importance material success in a vocation. His followers thus worked very hard in their vocations to find a place among the elite and at the same time did not spend their hard earned money in living a life of luxury. They re-invested this money in their own businesses so that they could expand and earn larger profits- another salient feature of modern capitalism.
IV. The notion of calling

Calvin was of the opinion that every job or vocation is divine if it is done with the purpose of the greater glory of God in mind. This principle made every member of the society feel important, whether he worked as a sweeper, a cobbler or an industrialist. Every member of the society was the best he could be in his vocation. This increased efficiency and productivity which are the two main requirements of a capitalist economy. Thus, Calvins ideas acted as the foundation stone on which the capitalist empire of the west was built. 4

CRITICISM
Webers work on religion and economy has been subject to criticism. Some scholars are of the opinion that he concentrated very selectively on certain aspects of religious ethics and interpreted them very narrowly so that they fit in with his theory.

See, http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/max-weber-1864-1920/max-weber-spirit-capitalism

16

His theory of the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism has also been criticized from many angles. According to some scholars, his spirit of capitalism was a phenomenon that was prevalent among the Italian merchants in the twelfth century, long before Calvinism was even heard of. Others were of the opinion that the key notion of working in a vocation which Weber associated with the Protestantism already existed in Catholic beliefs. Webers account and its essentials, although, are still accepted by many and the thesis remains as bold and illuminating in the modern times as it was when it was first formulated. Webers theory is valid, modern economic and social development has been influenced by something that seems at first sight utterly distant from it a set of religious ideas. On the brighter side, critics point out that Webers theory meets several criteria important in theoretical thinking in sociology. Firstly, it is counterintuitive. It suggests an interpretation that breaks with what common sense would suggest and develops a fresh perspective on the issues it covers. Secondly, the theory makes sense of something that is otherwise very puzzling - the idea of why individuals would want to live frugally after making great efforts to accumulate large amounts of wealth. Thirdly, it illuminates circumstances beyond those it was originally developed to understand. Though Webers principal study dealt with the origin of capitalism, he implies that parallel values to those instilled by Puritanism might be involved in other situations of modern capitalist development. Lastly, a good theory is not just one that happens to be valid. It is also one that is fruitful in terms of how far it generates new ideas and stimulates further r esearch work. Webers theory has been highly successful in these respects, providing the springboard for a vast amount of subsequent research and theoretical analysis.

WEBERS THEORY IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY

With the world shrinking into a global village and trade laws being relaxed, geographical boundaries are slowly losing their meaning. The world has become a melting pot of cultures; the West learns from the East and the East is influenced by Western idea. We no 17

more live in a world where trunk calls need to be booked days in advance or the news and happenings of the countries on the other side of the globe is not stale news by the time it reaches us. We live in the world where a click of a button transports us to any corner of the world and where instant gratification is the mantra of the day. Life has taken on a very different meaning today than what it was when Weber lived. Religion is not practiced with as much fervor today as it was in the past. Money, power, position and authority are the impetus for a successful economy today; not religion or its ideals. Religion today has taken on a very different meaning from what it used to be in the past. Religion today is more of a dividing rather than a cohesive force in society. The influence of religion does not stay confined to one geographical area. So, it cannot be said that a specific country follows a particular religion. When we talk about India, we can safely say that it is the most ethnic and multi cultural country of the world. Unlike the Vedic ages, Indian society today is not dominated by Hinduism. Indian economy, using Webers analogy is not influenced only by this religion. Different religious groups have their specific roles to play in society and the populace picks up whatever is suitable to them from each of these religions, what they think will help in the progress of their civilization. Though the principle of calling and doing ones duty without expecting anything in return or thinking of benefit, found in the Bhagwad Gita is similar to the Calvins principle of calling, people in India today have gone past the beliefs of these religious teachings and find a new meaning in life by living in the present moment. The concept of afterlife and predestination are considered ancient and modern man finds it very difficult to associate himself with these thoughts. Though these principles form the fundamentals of every religion, though written and taught differently, their relevance changes with the advancement of society. Society evolves with the evolution of mans thought. That is how we grew from cave men to farmers to industrialists to members of what we call today, the post modern society. With the passage of time, we shed various skins that were our value systems. Culture developed. As culture was modernized, the traditional principles of religion were forgotten. Today, we live in a society which in a strange way but for different reasons bears a striking resemblance to the Western Capitalist society. We still have a thirst for wealth and we still work as hard as we possibly can, not because it is a means of reaching the heavens in the afterlife but because life today has become a rat race in which there is very little room at the top. Material needs have surpassed spiritual needs. Thus, in modern societies, capitalism still thrives but is not motivated by religion. Capitalism is driven by the hunger and the desire for money itself and a hunger for power for in todays world, money is power. Webers theory of religion being the driving force behind capitalism may have applied and been a very logical explanation for the rise of capitalism as an economic system in the west in the 18th century. But if we were to apply the same theory in modern society, it would fail 18

because man today is motivated by the need to survive and not the desire for a peaceful life. For what we make of what we have is under our control but what becomes of us when we lose our physical bodies is totally and completely uncertain.

Conclusion
Weber made detailed studies on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and ancient Judaism and in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and elsewhere, he wrote extensively about the impact of Christianity on the West.

19

Webers writings on religion concentrate on the connection between religion and social change. Weber argues that religion is not necessarily a conservative force; on the contrary, religiously inspired movements have often produced dramatic social transformations. One such effect that Weber studied was the effect of Protestantism, essentially Puritanism being the source of the capitalist outlook in the West. Early entrepreneurs who were mostly Calvinists had a drive to succeed which was prompted by a desire to serve God. Material success was a sign of divine favour. Weber treated his research on world religions as a single project. His discussion of the impact of Protestantism on the development of capitalism in the West is part of a comprehensive attempt to understand the influence of religion on the economic life in varying cultures. Analyzing Eastern religions, Weber concluded that they provide inseperable barriers to the development of industrial capitalism. He says this was not because the Eastern civilizations were backward, but because they had simply come to accept values that were different from the ones that were predominant in Europe. Weber threw light on the certain periods of significant development of commerce, manufacture and urbanism in Indian and Chinese civilization and he said that these did not generate the radical patterns of social change involved in the rise of industrial capitalism in the West. He thus held that religion was a major influence in inhibiting this change. From his study of Hinduism, he inferred that its highest valued stress escape from the toils of a material world to a higher plane of spiritual existence. The religion does not motivate its followers to focus or control the material world. Hinduism, in fact sees material reality as a veil hiding the true concerns to which humankind should be oriented. Though China was for a long time one of the most powerful and culturally most developed civilizations of the world, it was dominated by its religious values that acted as an impediment to economic development. Confucianism directed effort away from economic development, which means it emphasizes harmony with the world rather that promoting economic development. He regarded Christianity although as a salvation religion with values that say that human beings can be saved if they adopt the beliefs of religion and follow its moral tenets. The notions of sin and the rescue from sinfulness by Gods grace generate a tension about emotional dynamism, something essentially absent in eastern religions. Drawing the most significant difference between the religions of the East and the West, Weber said that the religions of the East cultivated an attitude of passivity in the believer towards the existing order whereas Christianity involves a constant struggle against sin, and hence can stimulate revolt against the existing order of things.

20

REFERENCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY Giddens, Anthony, Sociology, Wiley India Pvt. Ltd., 5th Edition, 2006 21

WEBLIOGRAPHY www.google.com www.sociosite.net/topics/weber.php cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/weber.htm www.marxists.org/reference/.../protestant-ethic/index.htm www.ellopos.net/politics/eu_weber.html www.britannica.com/.../The-Protestant-Ethic-and-the-Spirit-of-Capitalism http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/max-weber-1864-1920/max-weberspirit-capitalism http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y64l10.html

22