The Economic Ethics of World Religions and their Laws

Front matter

The Economic Ethics of World Religions and their Laws

An Introduction to Max Weber‘s Comparative Sociology

Nomos

Preface

Max Weber is today perhaps the classic author in the cultural and social sciences, recognized by scientists in many subject areas and on all continents. But his widely felt intellectual presence has not eliminated wide-ranging discussions about his intentions and the foundations of his work. Many use his ceuvre only as a quarry for concepts and ideas, unaware that only a coherent and systematic reading will penetrate to the foundations of his thought, open up its possibilities, but also its inner tensions.

This is particularly true with regard to his essays on «The Economic Ethics of World Religions» and to his much shorter writings on the laws of these religions, for they appear to be based on an inner contradiction. On the one hand, Weber insisted that only by specialization, by putting on blinders, so to speak, the scientist can achieve something that will endure. But, on the other hand, he wrote about religions and cultures and their legal systems — in India, China, Buddhism, ancient Judaism —, and he commented on other cultures - Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and occidental Christianity - about which he certainly could not claim much specialized knowledge. What characterizes his ceuvre, however, is his approach: he proposed a refined and coherent method of comparative social study with a largely historical dimension which was intended to contribute to the understanding of the characteristics of Western culture even when he wrote about Asian cultures. At the same time he asked which attitude towards the world remains for Western man, and what kind of conduct and which price and sacrifices it requires.

Weber's questions are not self-evident for sinologists, indologists, semitists or historians of Christianity, and they are also new for scholars and students of comparative religions and of the comparative history of law. For Westerners they provide a wider than usual perspective. At the same time, Weber did not want to teach the people of Asia anything about how their cultures should develop. His approach allows people of all cultures to turn the mirror around and, while adapting Weber's approach to their perspective, to look at their own roots. May this book contribute to the dissemination of Weber's comparative macrosociological analysis and of his understanding of the peculiarities of Occidental rationalism.

Table Of Contents

ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTERI INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

The Texts (15); What were Weber's intentions? (18); The Critiques (21); Scientific Concepts and Points of View (25); Rationality and Rationalisation (27); The Method of Analysis (29); A Short Outline of the Material (31)

CHAPTER III THE WORLD RELIGIONS AND THEIR ETHICS 1. Max Weber’s Introduction

The Patrimonial Domination (58); The Spirit of Confucianism (60); Heterodoxies (61); Conclusion (63); The Result: Puritanism versus Confucianism (65)

3. Intermediate Reflection: Religious Rejections of the World and their Levels and Directions

34 34 40 42 44

48 48 57

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Hindu Social System (76); The Hindu Spirit (78); Orthodox and Heterodox Salvation Teachings (79); Ancient Buddhism (82); Buddhism elsewhere in Asia (85); Excursus: Japan (87); Later Indian Developments (88); A Retrospective View on the Asian Cultural

World (90)

The Transcendent God, the berith, and the Prophets (93); Pariah People, Pariah Ethics, and Pariah Capitalism (95); Supplement: The Pharisees (98)

Islamic Patrimonial Domination (102); The «Spirit» of Islam (106); Sufism and Conclusion (108)

a. Ancient Christianity

The Roman Monarchic-Bureaucratic Empire (110); The Spirit of Ancient Christianity (111)

b. Eastern Orthodox Christianity

The Patrimonial State (116); The Orthodox Church (118); The «Spirit» of the Orthodox Church (119); Russian Old Believers (121); The Russian Sects (124); Result (126)

c. Occidental Christianity

The Institutional and Legal Transformations (127); The «Spirit» of Traditionalism and the Puritan Sects (133); The Characteristics of Modern Western Capitalism (136)

RN M N

Elective Affinity and Causal Adequacy Adequate Causation according to v. Kries Weber's Use of the Concept of Adequate Causation

Adequate Causation and «The Economic Ethics of World Religions»

110 110

137 137 141 146

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Jurisprudence and the Sociology of Law (153); The Rationalisation of the Societal Spheres (155); Excursus on Eigengesetzlichkeit (159); The Rationalisation of the Law (160); The Carriers of the Rationalization of Law (166); The «England Problem» (168); Retrospective

Considerations (171)

1. The Laws in Non-Occidental Cultures

China (174); India (176); Buddhist Countries and Japan (177); Islam (179); Jewish Law (181); The Law within Russian Orthodoxy (183)

2. Canon Law

3. European Secular Law

Roman Law (187); Natural Law (188); Continental European Law (190); English Common Law (193); A Retrospective View of European Secular Law (194); 4. Coda on Modern Comparative Law (195)

CONCLUSION I. The «Author’s Introduction» as a Conclusion

Science (201); Architecture, Art, and Music (202); Formally Rational Law and the Puritan Conduct of Life (204); The Contemporary Relevance of Weber’s Comparative Sociology (206)