0 th ▁century . ▁It ▁is ▁the ▁ 8 th ▁most ▁c ited ▁book ▁in ▁the ▁social ▁sciences ▁published ▁before ▁ 1 9 5 0 . ▁ ▁Sum mary ▁ ▁Basic ▁concepts ▁Although ▁not ▁a ▁detailed ▁study ▁of ▁Protest ant ism ▁but ▁rather ▁an ▁introduction ▁to ▁We ber ' s ▁later ▁studies ▁of ▁interaction ▁between ▁various ▁religious ▁ideas ▁and ▁econom ics ▁( The ▁Religion ▁of ▁China : ▁Conf u cian ism ▁and ▁T ao ism , ▁The ▁Religion ▁of ▁India : ▁The ▁Soci ology ▁of ▁H indu ism ▁and ▁Buddh ism , ▁and ▁An cient ▁J uda ism ), ▁The ▁Protest ant ▁Eth ic ▁and ▁the ▁Spirit ▁of ▁Capital ism ▁arg ues ▁that ▁Pur itan ▁eth ics ▁and ▁ideas ▁influenced ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁capital ism . ▁The ▁' sp irit ▁of ▁capital ism ' ▁does ▁not ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁spirit ▁in ▁the ▁met aph ys ical ▁sense ▁but ▁rather ▁a ▁set ▁of ▁values , ▁the ▁spirit ▁of ▁hard ▁work ▁and ▁progress . ▁ ▁Relig ious ▁dev otion , ▁We ber ▁arg ues , ▁is ▁usually ▁accompanied ▁by ▁a ▁re jection ▁of ▁world ly ▁affairs , ▁including ▁the ▁purs uit ▁of ▁wealth ▁and ▁poss essions . ▁To ▁illustrate ▁his ▁theory , ▁We ber ▁quotes ▁the ▁eth ical ▁writ ings ▁of ▁Benjamin ▁Franklin : ▁ ▁We ber ▁notes ▁that ▁this ▁is ▁not ▁a ▁philosophy ▁of ▁mere ▁gre ed , ▁but ▁a ▁statement ▁l aden ▁with ▁moral ▁language . ▁Indeed , ▁Franklin ▁claims ▁that ▁God ▁revealed ▁the ▁useful ness ▁of ▁virtue ▁to ▁him . ▁ ▁The