Study Questions for the Final Exam In addition to reviewing the following readings, you may also want to review some of the Marx readings from the beginning of the quarter. Weber’sThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 1.What is the “spirit of capitalism”? How is it related to the notion of a “calling”? 2.What is economic traditionalism? How is it in opposition to the spirit of capitalism? 3.What is the relationship between the capitalist spirit and modern capitalism? 4.What does Weber mean by “ascetic Protestantism”? 5.What is the Protestant ethic? What is its attitude towards work and moneymaking? 6.In what sense is the Protestant ethic opposed to “the uninhibited enjoyment of life”? 7.How does the Protestant ethic encourage the accumulation of capital? 8.How does the Protestant ethic produce an “economically rational conduct of life” (i.e. the spirit of capitalism)? 9.What does Weber mean by saying, “The Puritans wanted to be men of the calling-we, on the other hand, have to be”?
