Religion and Economics in Robinson Crusoe and Protestant Ethic and the

Religion and Economics in Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe and Max Webers Protestant ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism One of the most recognized and influential theories in sociology appears in Max Webers The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which links the development of capitalism to social and cultural factors, primarily religion, instead of sparing factors alone. In his hypothesis Weber concludes that the Protestant Ethic greatly influenced the development of capitalism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to Gordon Marshall, Weber argues that the two most important factors of Protestantism bring to capitalism were diligence in worldly callings or vocations and the notion of predestination (71). If indeed these religious factors did influence the rise of capitalism, it would make perfect sense that other cultural elements, such as literature, would reflect both Protestant and capitalist ideology. This essay shows that in fact such Protestant n otions as calling and predestination, which were hand in the religion of the time, interact with capitalist ideas in Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, who was himself a devout Protestant that used his writings to influence both the religious and economic views of his readers (Earle 31). If Webers argument is tenable, then Robinson Crusoe may serve to represent in fiction the Protestant Ethic in early eighteenth century society and its exploitation spirit of capitalism. An especially interesting question that arises from this analysis is how a social structure that is traditionally considered a-moral, unfair, and materialistic (i.e., economics) can be justified by a structure that is considered moral, just, and spiritual (i.e., rel... ...ork Scribners, 1954. Earle, Peter. The World of Defoe. London Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976. Forell, George W. The Protestant Faith. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, 1960. Marshall, Gordon. In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism An Essay on Max W ebers Protestant Ethic Thesis. New York Columbia UP, 1982. Pauck, Wilhelm. The Heritage of Reformation. New York Oxford UP, 1950. Reshef, Yonatan. Max Weber The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. n. pag. Online. Internet. 5 October 1999. Available http//courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417/weber.htm Tawney, R. H. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism A Historical Study. London Hazell, Watson, and Viney, 1926. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Online. 10 October 1999. Available http//www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssrl/PRELIMS/Theory/weber.htmlweber2.