Max Weber, capitalism and the religion of India

Abstract

The full-text of this article is not currently available in ORA, but you may be able to access the article via the publisher copy link on this record page. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Sociology, 16(4), November 1982 by SAGE Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. © 1982 the British Sociological Association. N.B. Prof Gellner is now based at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford.

This paper examines Max Weber's 'The Religion of India' and places it in the wider context of his work. It tries to show in detail how Weber's study of India formed part of the comparative analysis of world civilizations which was the natural result of his interest in the causal antecedants of the rise of industrial capitalism in the West. With this background correctly understood, it is possible to appreciate why Weber approached Indian religion in the way that he did, and to avoid some common mistakes. Weber is summarized on the most important aspects of Indian religion and a brief attempt is made to state how valid his remarks still are.