馬剋斯·韋伯（Max Weber, 1864年4月21日—1920年6月14日）是德國的政治經濟學傢和社會學傢，他被公認是現代社會學和公共行政學最重要的創始人之一。韋伯最初在柏林大學開始教職生涯，並陸續於維也納大學、慕尼黑大學等大學任教。他對於當時德國的政界影響極大，曾前往凡爾賽會議代錶德國進行談判，並且參與瞭魏瑪共和國憲法的起草設計。

韋伯的主要著作圍繞於社會學的宗教和政治研究領域上，但他也對經濟學領域作齣極大的貢獻。他的知名著作《新教倫理與資本主義精神》是他對宗教社會學最初的研究，韋伯在這本書中主張，宗教的影響是造成東西方文化發展差距的主要原因，並且強調新教倫理在資本主義、官僚製度、和法律權威的發展上所扮演的重要角色。韋伯並將國傢定義為一個“擁有閤法使用暴力的壟斷地位”的實體，這個定義對於西方現代政治學的發展影響極大。他在各種學術上的重要貢獻通常被通稱為“韋伯命題”。

For the first time in 70 years, a new translation of Max Weber's classic "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" --one of the seminal works in sociology-- published in September 2001. Translator Stephen Kalberg is an internationally acclaimed Weberian scholar, and in this new translation he offers a precise and nuanced rendering that captures both Weber's style and the unusual subtlety of his descriptions and causal arguments. Weber's original italicization, highlighting major themes, has been restored, and Kalberg has standardized Weber's terminology to better facilitate understanding of the various twists and turns in his complex lines of reasoning.

Weber's compelling work remains influential for these reasons: it explores the continuing debate regarding the origins and legacy of modem capitalism in the West; it helps the reader understand today's global economic development; and it plumbs the deep cultural forces that affect contemporary work life and the workplace in the United States and Europe.

This new edition/translation also includes a glossary; Weber's 1906 essay, "The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism"; and Weber's masterful prefatory remarks to his "Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion," in which he defines the uniqueness of Western societies and asks what "ideas and interests" combined to create modem Western rationalism

.

目錄

.

Introduction to the Translation

Introduction to The Protestant Ethic

Glossary

The Problem

Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification p. 3

The Spirit of Capitalism p. 13

Luther's Conception of the Calling p. 39

The Task of the Investigation p. 47

The Vocational Ethic of Ascetic Protestantism

The Religious Foundations of This-Worldly Asceticism p. 53

Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism p. 103

'The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism' p. 127

'Prefatory Remarks' to Collected Essays in the Sociology of Religion (1920) p. 149

Notes for The Protestant Ethic p. 165

Notes for 'The Protestant Sects' p. 247

Notes for 'Prefatory Remarks' p. 255

Name Index p. 259

Subject Index p. 263

Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.