The Economic Ethics of World Religions and their Laws: An Introduction to Max Weber's Comparative Sociology by Andreas E. Buss (review)

Abstract

[MWS 17.2 (2017) 297-321] ISSN 1470-8078 http://dx.doi.org/10.15543/MWS/2017/2/10© Max Weber Studies 2017, Rm 4-12, London Metropolitan University, 84 Moorgate, London EC2M 6SQ. Book Reviews Andreas E. Buss, The Economic Ethics of World Religions and their Laws: An Introduction to Max Weber’s Comparative Sociology (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2015), 219pp. (hbk). ISBN 978-3-84872424 -6. €44.00. The title of this book is unquestionably accurate, but it does not really tell the reader what to expect from the book. In contrast, the subtitle does tell the reader what to expect, but whether it does, or does not, meet the reader’s expectations depends largely on what the reader thinks an ‘introduction’ should be. If one expects an ‘introduction’ to be a survey of most of the major points then Buss’s book almost always succeeds; but if one expects an ‘introduction’ to be carefully and clearly written then his book does not always succeed. There are chapters in which Buss sets out Weber’s concepts and arguments rather plainly, and a few which seem to be written for the more advanced reader; some provide a more general overview, while others seem to be highly focused. Both contribute to sense that the book may have been composed from two different studies. Chapter Three, the book’s longest, is devoted to ‘The World Religions and Their Ethics’, and is probably the most successful of all of the chapters. Buss introduces and explains many of the basic tenets of the six religions that Weber examined, and competently shows how and why Weber’s conclusions from his investigations were largely correct. For those who do not know much about Hinduism , Buddhism, and Taoism, Buss provides welcome insights into Weber’s understanding of the economic ethics of these religions. Weber recognized the impact of the caste system on Hinduism, but as Buss notes, he did not think that it prevented any major economic developments. Instead, it was Hinduism’s emphasis on tradition and the lack of interest in rationalism that made the difference (77-78). Buss suggests that what prevented any significant economic development in Buddhism was its lack of interest in planning and its ambivalent approach to wealth, which was viewed not as wrong in 298 Max Weber Studies© Max Weber Studies 2017. itself but rather as a source of temptation (83-84). While Taoist mysticism shared the general tendency of mysticism to minimize action, it never led to the complete rejection of the world because it espoused the ideal of the educated gentleman (62). The notion of the educated gentleman is also found in Confucianism: study leads to grace and dignity, but not to profit and wealth (60-61). The question why economic development did not occur in China is a perplexing one. Weber acknowledged that there were certain similarities between Chinese rationalism and Protestant rationalism, but he pointed to the importance of tradition and magic for the former, which were superseded in the latter. Buss makes these important points but very briefly (65-66). When it comes to Weber’s interpretation of ancient Judaism, Buss discusses the Jews’ status as a pariah people and how it affected their views about money. In this, Buss’s treatment is largely correct , except for the suggestion that it was Nietzsche’s Antichrist that inspired Weber (96); more likely it was Zur Genealogie der Moral. Though Weber never published an essay on Islam, Buss takes inspiration from Wolfgang Schluchter and attempts to outline how Islam’s exterior factors (institutions) and interior factors (motivational spirit) would have likely contributed to its particular economic ethics (101-102). Weber stressed the differences between medieval feudalism and Islam; while both tended to be traditional forms of rulership, feudalism was an ‘approximation of a rule based on law’. In contrast, Islam’s military institutions of slaves and taxation ‘lessened the calculability of the administrative/legal processes’ (103). In characterizing the ‘spirit’ of Islam, Buss suggests that Weber thought there were significant similarities with ascetic Protestantism: both Islam and Calvinism believed in a transcendent God and asserted that the gulf between this omnipotent deity and human beings cannot be...