Essay --

It is almost impossible to describe the evolution of medieval Europe into the modern world without incorporating the social theory concepts. Social theorists Marx and Weber studied this development using the ideologies of the origins of modern capitalism and social inequality as Marx compares materialism with class struggle. The proletariat and bourgeoisie fall under two distinct groups: the workers and capitalists. In this paper, I will argue that both Weber and Marx have relatable accounts on the origins of capitalism and social inequality, but Weber’s explanations are ambivalently grounded in human, historical, and non-economic factors while Marx uses an explicit economic determinism approach and is sure of change through social persuasion. Weber Weber theorizes that cultural values enmeshed in the Protestant ethic, as expressed by 7th Century Puritans, hastened the establishment if modern capitalism. Weber unearths this ethic in the 18th century, when influential figures such as Benjamin Franklin exemplified that the ethic is no longer connected to salvation (Bailey & Gayle, 2003). Instead, the labor for money became completely comprehended as an end in itself. During Weber’s contemporary times, capitalism, now split of its linkage to Protestant values, manifested itself in a mandatory, socially-rooted system requiring everyone to participate in it or become excluded. Weber demonstrates this by referring to the 17th C ascetic protestant, who voluntarily ‘wanted’ to be an individual with a vocational calling, but today is forced to be (Weber, 1958). Marx Marx theorizes the origins of capitalism by explaining the alienated state of modern man through a focus on materialism. According to Marx, the system of production of mat... ...alues in their accounts, they vary in the way that they present their ideas to the audience, with Marx showing a firm economic deterministic approach while Weber is detached non-participant observer, tracing the root of capitalism to the Protestant religion. Weber explains the capitalist social class from the human psychological or motivational perspective while Marx focuses on the capabilities of the working class to bring change. For both these theorists, religion has a functional value for understanding and solving capitalism, but Weber, unlike Marx, sees it as the only cause for, and solution to modern capitalism. Using an economic principle approach, Marx asserts that modern capitalism polarizes social class relations between the elites and the working class but social persuasion in the latter can help form a post-capitalist socioeconomic environment.