In the 19th century, a time of rapid technological and political change as well as radical inequality, Karl Marx and Max Weber stood out as incredibly influential sociologist who developed notable theories about why inequality is maintained.
Despite forming social theories within a similar timeframe, many have argued the two to be completely opposing each other. In this mindset, Marx is considered to regard material reality to shape our society.
Material conditions for producing and reproducing our life existence continues to change and it is that what produces the ideas and beliefs human beings are capable of forming. On the other hand, Weber is said to think the exact opposite. It wasn’t material necessity, but it was human ideas that determined history.
To put it exceedingly simply, Marx is considered to think that society creates ideas while Weber believes ideas create society. I believe this characterization to be accurate. From an immersion through each sociologist’s theory, Marx and Weber form opposing theories.
Marx introduces this idea of historical materialism in The German Ideology. It is here where he famously states “Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life” (Marx), which debatably explains his entire social theory.
Historical materialism looks at change over time and material reality, such as how production is organized, who has things like food or money, who doesn’t. He states, “The production of ideas, of conceptions, of consciousness, is at first directly interwoven with the material activity and the material intercourse of men, the language of real life” (Marx).
For things like politics and religion to be understood, material reality must come first. The economy, the organization of labor and resources in a society, is the foundation. Everything else is built on top of this material reality.
Marx did not analyze the logic of religion. He perceived religious beliefs as a reflection of the problems that the society faced. Marx believed that religion was man’s creation.
He asserts that “religion is the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again”. This implies that Marx considered religion as false consciousness of man.
According to Marx, religion is the product of historical injustices and systems of exploitation rather than the creation of the capitalists. Marx considered religion as part of the superstructure. Thus, it helped the proletariats to cope with the exploitations and miseries of the capitalist system.
Marx also considered religion as a dominant ideology that perpetuated the ruling class. Specifically, the ideas of the ruling class (capitalists) were transmitted and legitimated by the church through religion.
Weber claim’s the process of rationalization to be singularly caused by religion, more specifically the Protestant Reformation. In theory, this makes a lot of sense as Catholicism was the basis for the traditional worldview.
Because God willed it, everything was the way it was. However, after the Protestant Reformation, when Lutheranism came to be, the question of how well one performed their “role” became important, the idea of personal responsibility.
In the Religious Foundations of Worldly Asceticism, Weber describes Calvinism, and more importantly the Calvinist outlook that the fate of every individual has already been decided, also known as predestination (Weber).
To know whether ones has been saved or not was only known through a “proof of election”. This proof was to be found in how you lived your life. Unlike in Catholicism where the point of your life was divinely appointed, it now depended on how well or how much you work, you had a personal responsibility.
Thus, success was proof of election, wealth proved that one was saved. Work would no longer be done to the bare minimum, but rather to accumulate as much wealth as possible.
The change in ideas due to the Protestant Reformation converted a communal, traditional society into an individualistic, capitalist society focused on economic success. Something that could only be achieved through people becoming more rational.
