The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit (Economy Editions) [Paperback]

In the book, Weber wrote that capitalism in Europe evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the accumulation of wealth for investment. In other words, the Protestant work ethic was a force behind a mass action that influenced the development of capitalism.

This book is not a detailed study of Protestantism but rather an introduction into Weber's studies of interaction between moral ideas and economics. He argues convincingly about the American ethics and ideas that have so positively influenced the development of capitalistic financial prosperity, and thereby, both the personal and common good.

Translated by leading sociologist Talcott Parsons, this was the first and still remains the seminal translation of Weber's main work. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Max Weber's best-known and most controversial work, 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism', first published in 1904, remains to this day a powerful and fascinating read. Weber's highly accessible style is just one of many reasons for his continuing popularity. The book contends that the Protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the West. Widely considered as the most informed work ever written on the social effects of advanced capitalism, 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism' holds its own as one of the most significant books of the twentieth century. The book is one of those rare works of scholarship which no informed citizen can afford to ignore.

Max Weber (1864-1920). One of the founding fathers of modern sociology. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.