The Deconstruction of Catholic Values by Protestant Ethics: The Impression of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

摘要

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by German sociologist Max Weber is one of the most influential works of the 20th century. Based on the background of the rise of the protestant movement and the era of Martin Luther, this paper explains the reason why the reformation came into being in Germany in the 16th century. First, the Catholicism has a contemptuous and repellent attitude towards the accumulation of wealth. Second, considering the political situation in the German region at that time, there was never a strong royal power connecting the German region together, so the nominally holy Roman Empire was actually divided. Third, advances in technology (the invention of the movable type printing) have allowed civilians to reclaim their voice from the clergy. Secondly, from Luther's religious reform, to Calvinism, to the rise of Puritan movement in England, and finally to the development of North America, the protestant ethic has been deconstructed from the Catholic ethic.