The book contends that the protestant ethic made possible and encouraged the development of capitalism in the west widely considered as the most informed work ever written on the social effects of advanced capitalism the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism holds its own as one of the most significant books of the twentieth century the book is one of those rare works of scholarship which no informed citizen can afford to ignore. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism undoubtedly ranks as one of the most renowned and controversial works of modern social science first published as a two part article in 1904 5 in the archiv fur sozialwissenschaft und sozialpolitik of which weber was one of the editors it immediately provoked a critical debate in. Booktopia has the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism routledge classics by max weber buy a discounted paperback of the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism online from australias leading online bookstore. Buy the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism routledge classics 1 by weber max isbn 9780415255592 from amazons book store everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism have influenced the development of material culture only when this has been determined with reasonable accuracy can the attempt be made to estimate to what extent the historical development of modern culture can be attributed to those religious forces and to what extent to others