"Above all, the imposing but also terrible expansion of modern capitalism, with its calculating coldness and soullessness, its unscrupulous greed and pitilessness, its turning to gain for gain's sake, to fierce and ruthless competition, its agonising lust of victory, its blatant satisfaction in the tyrannical power of the merchant class, has entirely loosed it from its former ethical foundation; and it has become a power directly opposed to genuine Calvinism and Protestantism." -- Ernst Troeltsch, Protestantism and Progress, 1912.
Thoughts?
6 comments:
Well, I'm not a huge fan of Troeltch's historical narrative on certain points (especially in his Social Teachings of the Christian Churches), but I kind of agree with him on this one, contra most modern sociologists.
This is an interesting quote when considered in light of Troeltsch's close relationship with Weber. Thanks for posting it. Perhaps it could also be helpfully read beside some of D.B. Hart's recent comments on Calvinism.
I tend to find it unhelpful to offer any really serious analysis of the impact of such broad things as "Calvinism" (or "capitalism", for that matter), but as a conversation starter the thoughts are valuable.
...I guess the Hart comments aren't actually recent, simply recently posted by James. Shows how much I keep up with things! :)
Evan, I thought Weber also (as does Tocqueville) both discern what's coming as a departure of what has been? Certainly Weber to a lesser extent, but still within the trajectory of Troeltch?
I think you're right, Christ. Remember that for Weber, Calvinism does not directly cause Capitalism, but creates the spiritual/psychological conditions for the work ethic that allow capitalism to flourish. As Troeltsch points out, and I agree, that outcome ironically creates something definitively distinct from and, I would argue, violently opposed to the morality and ethic (not to mention metaphysic) entailed in actual Calvinism or in Calvin's own work. If nothing else, it cautions non-theological liberals from "blaming" Calvin(ism) and encourages theological conservatives to not assume the alliance of their theology with the economic system.
That's helpful, and well said. Thanks.
This sparked me to do some quote-mining. Consider Tawney's acerbic comments regarding the puritans (certainly Calvinists, but not exactly Calvinian):
"The shrewd, calculating commercialism which tries all human relations by pecuniary standards, the acquisitiveness which cannot rest while there are competitors to be conquered or profits to be won, the love of social power and hunger for economic gain—these irrepressible appetites had evoked from time immemorial the warnings and denunciations of saints and sages. Plunged in the cleansing waters of later puritanism, the qualities which less enlightened ages had denounced as social vices emerged as economic virtues. They emerged as moral virtues as well. For the world exists not to be enjoyed, but to be conquered. Only its conqueror deserves the name of Christian. For such a philosophy, the question, 'What shall it profit a man?' carries no sting. In winning the world, he wins the salvation of his own soul as well" (Religion and the Rise of Capitalism: An Historical Study, Murray, London, 1926, pp. 248-49).
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