The article proposes a multi-level reading of The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism by Max Weber, looking to identify different textual layers and analytic possibilities. Hence it pursues an analysis of the text at three different and complementary levels: the political, the scientific and the personal. It discusses the different versions of the text and the different contexts of publication, including an exploration of Weber's dialogue with Marx and the relations between capitalism and ascetic Protestantism. At the same time it highlights the extent to which the text can and should be read as a kind of self-analysis by Weber.
Max Weber; Max Weber Gesamtausgabe; Protestant ethic; Ascetic protestantism; Capitalism; Self-analysis