The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The paper is concerned with the famous study "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1904/1905) by Max Weber. It analyzes both main content and context of this work. It is shown that the main idea of the "Protestant Ethic" is not originally one of Weber, but it was taken over from Sombart and Troeltsch. Weber was significantly influenced - similarly as in his other works - by his environment and contemporaries. The article describes critical reactions of German historians towards "Protestant Ethic" and reserved attitudes of the Catholics.