Originally published: New York: Scribner, 1958. With new foreword. Includes bibliographical references and index. Weber, M. (2003). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

Chapter I: Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification -- Chapter II: The Spirit of Capitalism -- Chapter III: Luther's Conception of the Calling. Task of the Investigation -- Part II: The Practical Ethics of the Ascetic Branches of Protestantism -- Chapter IV: The Religious Foundations of Worldly Asceticism -- Chapter 5: Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism -- Notes -- Index

"... a brilliant study of the psychological conditions which made possible the development of capitalist civilization."--The New Republic This brilliant study--the author's best-known and most controversial work--opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through the conflict of opposites. Instead, Weber relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds--an effort that ultimately discouraged belief in predestination and encouraged capitalism. Weber's classic has long been required reading in college and advanced high school social studies classrooms. 1958 ed. Notes." -- From the Publisher