The Economic Ethics of the World Religions as Weber's (positively) last anti-critique

Abstract:In 1960, Bendix claimed that the studies of the Economic Ethics of the World Religions (EEWR) serve as verification of the central thesis of The Protestant Ethic (PE). In 1975, Tenbruck argued that the PE and the EEWR 'do not belong together as hypothesis and control evidence' (: 328). In the present paper I will analyse the relationship between the PE and the EEWR in the context of Weber's methodological writings on history, particularly of his Critical Studies, using an argument of Schluchter (2014), and certain elements of the Protestant ethic debate. I will argue that the EEWR can be regarded as a 'test' of the Protestant ethic thesis in the sense that it can be read as Weber's monumental (positively) last 'anti-critique' responding to the criticism of the PE, and that this does not weaken but adds to its significance.