Max Weber Theory Of Religion Essay

It reinforced the morals and social norms held collectively by all within a society. Society, to Durkheim, was greater than the individual and it gave people strength and support and made things possible and meaningful. The function of religion was to keep society in check, to assist social control, and to provide individual meaning for each individual’s life.

Émile Durkheim and Mircea Eliade have dissimilar understandings of religion. Emile Durkheim did not have an interest in a belief system or the cognitive approach. He dismissed the study of how particular beliefs lead to certain practices and adopted a functionalist approach. He does not acknowledge the belief in God, rather focuses on what religion does within society. He believed that individuals encompassed a more pure form and focused on the essential structure of religion. His theory of totemism developed, which centers around the idea that the subject of religion is to bring people together, and to ultimately result in social cohesion. He metaphorically relates this to when people in a community rally around the totem. Furthermore, making the totem represent the sacred. Durkheim then understands that the totem will eventually develop into a spirit, and ultimately into a ‘God’ or spiritual form. Moreover, connecting a society on a metaphysical level. This concept does not center around a belief system, rather on social cohesion.

Another religion that is seemingly immune to the market theory at first glance is Catholicism, according to Stark and Finke. The authors contend, however, that although Catholics in Western Europe are more active than one would expect given the homogenous religious makeup of those countries, this deviation from the theory can be explained away by the fact that Catholic clergy rely on “voluntary oblations of the people”. All in all, Starke and Finke’s Acts of Faith presents a compelling narrative of religion acting according to the rules of a market

Therefore, Durkheim would also argue that religion is mirrored after society, meaning that as society evolves — specifically in the technological realm — religious practices will follow suit. This will occur because “religious representations are collective representations which express collective realities”, meaning Durkheim would probably think that online churches are meant to appeal to modern ideals (McIntosh, 1997). As Durkheim states in Religion and Society, “the rites are a manner of acting, which take rise in the midst of the assembled groups which are destined to excite, maintain or recreate certain mental states…”, he further establishes that religious groups will do what is necessary to conform to what is happening in society in order to stay relevant (McIntosh, 1997). Durkheim would probably argue in favor of these online for-profit church practices because it brings a sense of unity to modern society, and acts as a way to revitalize the conscience collective, and churches provide “a society whose members are united by the fact that they think in the same way in regard to the sacred world (McIntosh, 1997). Online churches might provide a new ritual that serves to remind us of our social solidarity. In opposition, Durkheim might argue that online for-profit churches bring with them a lack of anomie. As stated by

According to Marx’s theory, labour is what define oneself in the world and give meaning to one’s life. Weber emphasized that theory when he published in 1904 “The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism”.

However, he also found that Catholic French and Italians actually work more hours than Protestant Germans and Norwegians – the opposite of Weber’s findings. That being said, at the time of Weber’s study, when both religions were relatively strong, the Protestant Church urged people to work and fulfill their worldly duties and responsibilities, while the Catholic Church pushed for monastic retreat from work and daily life. With the steady decline of formal religion, the Protestant ethic and the “spirit of capitalism” have been eroded. Weber claims, “the Puritan wanted to work in a calling; we are forced to do so,” suggesting that although the values associated with the Protestant work ethic (e.g. hard work and self-control) are present and valued in today’s society, their religious roots are gradually disappearing. Ultimately, these findings may show that religion has less influence over people’s work and daily

Weber argued that the spirit of capitalism lay behind the unplanned growth of it in the 19th century. He defined this spirit as the belief in pursuing an ever increasing profit from economic activity, intolerance of greed, but encouragement to hard work in order to invest in and make profits. In other words, capitalists should refrain from living luxuriously while always prioritizing work. Max Weber also believed that this spirit developed directly from acetic Protestantism. Simple beliefs of acetic Protestantism require that people renounce physical pleasures and comfort in the pursuit of greater spiritual fulfillment. Weber considered Protestantism ideology as a sort of calling to the notion that humans have one task set forth by God and to prove one's faith to God, one must be working at it. Weber also focused on capitalism's relation to Calvinism, which is a branch of Protestantism. Calvinism held onto to the belief that whether someone would go to heaven or hell was predestined by earning the status of having greater wealth (Max Weber, Intellectual Influences & Core Ideas, 10-24-16). Followers could thus convince themselves that they were destined for salvation. For example, if two boys named Ben and Mike each decided to set up their own lemonade stands, start with three dollars which they use to buy three jugs of lemonade. Each jug of lemonade sells for a total of two dollars meaning both boys have made a profit of three dollars. What should they do with their earnings? They can reinvest their profits to buy more jugs of lemonade expanding their business or they should spend the money on candy. Mike realizes that if he buys candy for a dollar, he's not sacrificing one jug of lemonade but thousands of jugs. He decides to reinvest the money into his

and how it differed form the view Marx put forward on the development of Western capitalism. I am then going to look at the way Weber saw 'occidental'; capitalism differing from 'other'; types of capitalism. After this I will touch upon what Weber described as the 'spirit of capitalism';. I will then proceed to explain what effect predestination and worldly- asceticism had an on a Protestant and his calling, and how this therefore encouraged the development of Western capitalism; in Webers view. After this I will look at the

Max Weber’s work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is arguably one of the most important works in all of sociology and social theory, both classical and modern. In the decades since its inception, this work has gone on to influence generations of social scientists with its analysis of the effect of Protestantism on the development of modern industrial capitalism. This work, examining such broad topics as religion, economics, and history, is not only an interesting and insightful look into the history of the development of capitalism, but a major work in laying a foundation for future works of social theory.

It appears that Weber’s interest is concerned with the development of modern life, more particularly with the spirit of capitalism and the self-organisation system ( Giddens, 1992:x). Weber is interested in certain conduct and behaviour that is associated capitalism and economic lifestyles, this interest is what allows Weber to explore the connection between economic life and Protestantism (Giddens, 1992:xi).

Durkeim took the area of religions on, and looked at the moral interpretations of human beings. Basically, he saw that people who practiced religions and phiosophies whole heartly thought thtey were dong so out of true religion, he sees religion as fulfilling a social function. Durkheim observed that someone who belives is stronger and feels within themselves that a force and withstand things that are put forth in life (Jones, 1986). He also saw religious beliefs as a way to avoid being labeled deviant. Durkheim became associated with William James who had the theory of religious beliefs being based upon real experiences(1986). Durkheim also believed that religion was neccessary, because it is hard for a society to live through change and

In sociological perspective, Durkheim believes that in order to understand the community, one need to understand the religion. In the church, people were praying all together.

By using opiate to describe religion, “he meant that religion, like a drug, makes people happy with their existing conditions. (“17.3 Sociological Perspectives on Religion,” 2017). In the views of Karl Marx, he stated that “religion played an important role in lifting up the existing social structure, as well as, covering the sight of individuals to prevent seeing their lives and social conditions in their society political terms” (Witt, 191-192). Although an interactionalist and a functionalist would disagree with some of the midpoints in Karl Marx’s conflict theory of religion, they share one common perspective on religion by reinstating the idea of how “religion only helps perpetuate a pattern of social inequality” (Witt, 191). Correspondingly,

Weber uses a piece of writing by Benjamin Franklin which discusses how people should act towards credit, money, debt in an attempt to show that Franklin was suggesting that people should be attempting to gain wealth as a personal duty. Weber continues by clarifying that capitalism did not originate from the Protestant Reformation and that capitalism has been viewed in societies ranging from India, Asia and the Middle East but they lacked what Weber called the “spirit” of capitalism shown in the time frame which he was looking at. Weber defines and discusses the change in economic systems from economic traditionalism to capitalism. Weber thought that religion was not the driving force in the rise of capitalism but had a greater impact in bringing about the change from economic traditionalism to capitalism. Weber also discusses one of the unintended consequences of the reformation which was the rise in rationalization in society brought about by the change in dominate religion.

For Durkheim, religion provides society with social cohesion and solidarity. He maintains that community is necessary for religion to exist. Thus, since it is certain that religion exists, so too