Was Weber's 'Protestant Ethic' a deterministic claim?
It is a common misconception that my work on the 'Protestant Ethic' presented a simple, deterministic cause-and-effect relationship. I argued for an 'elective affinity,' suggesting a correlation and mutual reinforcement between ascetic Protestantism and the capitalist spirit, rather than a direct causal dictate. Other factors were undeniably at play in the development of capitalism, but I sought to illuminate the specific cultural and religious contributions that played a significant role.