2.2 Spirit of Capitalism.

Weber with all his wits and intelligence contained the

Spirit of Capitalism into the end of an honest man. According to him, the ideal of an
honest man is to “recognized credit and the duty to increased ones capital”. Money
making is not merely for the sake of business but it an “ethos”, the spirit of the era.
Thus, in this context of utilitarianism, is the image that honesty is useful. It is in the
virtue of honesty that assures credit payment, punctuality, industry, frugality, and other
values. Moreover, man’s life is dominated by the making of money and the acquisition
of wealth is the “ultimate purpose of his life”. It is in this picture that the Spirit of
Capitalism can be drawn. Spirit of Capitalism embodied in the “obligation which the
individual is supposed to feel and does feel towards the content of his professional
activity”. This Spirit of Capitalism is not related to the preconceived notion of evil
capitalism of today. The Spirit of Capitalism is there even before the advent of modern
economic capitalism. It appears that capitalism existence today is by product of isolated
individuals. But the origin of Capitalism’s spirit is rather “as a way of life common to
whole groups of men”.
Through a historical investigation of the flight of man to money, the Spirit of
Capitalism has several enemies. One of this is founded on the dictum “auri sacra
fames”, the accurse greed of gold. Another is the practice of “liberum arbitrium” or
freewill. Moreover, the rational utilization of capital in a permanent enterprise and the
rational capitalistic organization of labor had not become dominant forces in the
determination of economic activity hinders the Spirit of Capitalism. Lastly, Max Weber
designated traditionalism as the “most important opponent of Spirit of Capitalism”.
Traditionalism is best captured in this mode, “a man does not by nature wish to earn
more and more money, but simply to live as he is accustomed to live and to earn as
much as is necessary for that purpose.
The book, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, projected that
traditionalism can be overcome on account of the religious upbringing. It was observed
that religious women at the workplace have the “absolutely essential feeling of
obligation to one’s job, which is combined with a strict economy which calculates the
possibility of high earnings, and a cool self-control and frugality. This attitude provides
the foundation of the conception “labor as an end in itself”.
Using Sombart’s discussion of the genesis of Capitalism, he proposed that
traditionalism is founded on the principle that the direction of economic activity is “the
attainment of the goods necessary to meet personal needs”. This traditionalism concept
is also utilized by most entrepreneurs, utilizing capital for profit even today. This would
imply that capitalistic enterprises may at the same time have a traditionalistic character.
The persistence of traditionalism is the continual interrupted of the progress of
capitalism. Moreover, the Spirit of Capitalism from the very beginning was flooded by
mistrust, hatred, and moral indignation. However, it was also in man’s ability to form
highly developed ethical qualities that the Spirit of Capitalism continued to kindle. It
shall be noted that the Sprit of Capitalism is alive “where a man exists for the sake of
his business, instead of the reverse”.
Finding a place of refuge of the Spirit of Capitalism into religious goodwill is
difficult especially among the Catholics. The dogma which states “ Deo placere vix
potest”, translated as a “man who is a merchant can scarcely or never please God” and
St. Thomas’s characterization of the desire for gain as “ turpitude”, a disgrace, suffices
the whole inimical attitude towards the Spirit of Capitalism. However, it is also note
worthy to establish that there were moralists who defended the Spirit of Capitalism,
highlighting on the “necessity of commerce” and “industry”. Fundamentally, the Spirit of
Capitalism is ethically justified in the notion that: “labor in the service of a rational
organization for the provision of humanity with material goods”. The foreseen
development of the Spirit of Capitalism is best understood as part of the development
of rationalism as a whole. Rationalism should not be taken as mere attitude but rather
is an historical concept which “covers a whole world of different things”. Rationalism
examines from “which the idea of a calling and the devotion to labor in the calling has
grown”.