Economic And Cultural Thought Of Max Weber

Max Weber was a famous German sociologist, political scientist and philosopher,also an influential ideologist in the contemporary society. His theory is significant inthe research field of capitalism. He found a new way of exploring the relationshipbetween national cultures all over the world and capitalism, from the perspective ofreligious ethics, and firstly put forward the conception of ‘economic ethics’. Heregarded the capitalism spirit created by the protestant ethic as the internal cause ofmodern western capitalism, bureaucracy as the system guarantee of the capitalism’sthriving after its birth. This paper expounds Max Weber’s ideology of economicculture in detail, as well as demonstrates its theoretical significance to solve problemsin current Chinese society, mainly through studying Max Weber’s The ProtestantEthic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Confucianism and Taoism, Economy and Society>and other works. The text can be divided into the following several parts.Introduction. Max Weber’s ideology of economic culture plays an important role inacademia, which leads to domestic and foreign experts and scholars’ unremittingresearch. His ideology has been a revelation to solving problems existing in thecontemporary Chinese society, construction of economic ethics with Chinesecharacteristics and cultural spirits.The Protestant Ethic is the Origin of Capitalism. Max Weber was deeply affectedby social environment he lived in and academic trend of the day, so he showed greatinterests on capitalism. By studying ‘Conception of the Calling’,‘Predestinarianism’,‘Asceticism’ in the protestant ethic, and demonstrating Chinese Confucianism Ethicsby contrast, Max Weber came to the conclusion that the protestant ethic was the keyfactor in creating capitalism.Bureaucracy is capitalism’s Way of Development.. In the context of the rapiddevelopment after the second industrial revolution, increasingly complexadministration and rational process of western societies, bureaucracy became the firstchoice of capitalism’s way of development and was in Max Weber’s good graces, for its features of clear division of labor, strict hierarchy, maximizing written documents,impersonalization and amount to employ people, etc.Rationality and Limitation of Max Weber’s Ideology of Economic Culture. On onehand, we can’t deny the protestant ethic’s acceleration to capitalism’s economicdevelopment and bureaucracy’s support to the development of capitalism. Meanwhile,Max Weber’s ideology of economic culture criticizes the deformed development ofmodern capitalism. On the other hand, his ideology has class limitations andone-sidedness of theory in idealism and western centrism. His bureaucracy also hastheoretical demerits, where is crawling with danger.Modern Significance of Max Weber’s Ideology of Economic and Culture. MaxWeber’s ideology of economic and culture is a crucial revelation to the establishmentof our country’s socialist market economy. On one hand, we need to dig into thepositive factors benefiting the economic development in Confucian ethics, andexplore its modern value. On the other hand, we need to optimize and reform thebureaucracy selectively, making it meet the need of development of current society, inorder to establish economic ethics with Chinese characteristics.Epilogue. In the present stage, we should analyze Max Weber’s ideology ofeconomic and culture in depth to gain a new method to solve problems. With theprogress of society and development of science, we will wait and see what power willbe needed in future’s economic development and what on earth the futureorganizational management mode will be.