Weber II

Question 1

Rationalism

Answer 1

historical process where social life becomes increasingly governed by calculation, efficiency, and control

Question 2

Origins of Capitalism

Answer 2

• capitalism arose not just materially but culturally
• protestant religious ideas helped shape disciplined economic behaviour
• calvinist doctrines encouraged hard work and self-regulation
• a moral duty towards labour supported rational enterprise
• predictable, disciplined workers made capitalist structures possible

Question 3

Spirit of Capitalism

Answer 3

• moral attitude treating work and economic success as duties
• hard work, frugality, punctuality seen as virtues
• driven by ethical duty, not greed
• profit reinvested rather than spent on pleasure
• secular ethic that normalizes disciplined economic conduct

Question 4

Economic Rationalism

Answer 4

• economic actions guided by calculation and efficiency
• decisions based on cost–benefit logic, not tradition
• requires systematic bookkeeping and planning
• central to modern capitalist enterprises
• encourages predictable, consistent economic behaviour

Question 5

The Calling

Answer 5

• idea that one’s job is a God-given vocation
• everyday work becomes morally meaningful
• encourages discipline, duty, and personal responsibility
• transforms ordinary labour into a religious obligation
• helps people view hard work as part of spiritual life

Question 6

This-Worldly Asceticism

Answer 6

• religious self-discipline practiced in everyday life
• avoids luxury, excess, and indulgence
• encourages frugality and constant self-monitoring
• creates surplus wealth that is reinvested—not consumed
• ascetic mindset helped drive the rise of capitalism

Question 7

Calvinist Ideas

Answer 7

predestination; which led individuals to seek signs of salvation through worldly success

Question 8

Iron Cage

Answer 8

• individuals trapped in overly rationalized systems
• bureaucracy, rules, and efficiency dominate life
• loss of freedom, creativity, and meaning
• social life becomes impersonal and mechanical
• “specialists without mind, pleasure-seekers without heart” (Weber, 2010 , p. 313)

Question 9

Protestant Ethic

Answer 9

• values: hard work, frugality, discipline, moral restraint
• rooted especially in Calvinist ideas
• self-denial and self-regulation encourage economic productivity
• work success seen as a sign of moral worth
• supported the rise of capitalist behaviour unintentionally

Question 10

Disenchantment of the World

Answer 10

• decline of magic, mystery, and supernatural explanations
• rise of science, rationality, and technical understanding
• disenchantment used to describe the character of a modernized, bureaucratic, secularized Western society
• deeply connected to rationalization and modernity