Weber, Religion, and Magic

Weber studied many world religions in an attempt to identify why Protestantism resulted in capitalism, and Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism and Taoism did not. The result of his findings was “magicality.” As I try to grasp an understanding of Appadurai’s point here, and I can’t help but feel lost in a conversation that involves capitalism, religion and magic. I find it extremely culturally intriguing to find that Weber saw magic as a great ethical obstacle from capitalism. Weber was looking to these religions to eliminate “magical thinking” such as Calvinism. An interesting angle to the discussion on magic is that of the financial success of astrologers, psychics, or tarot card operators. The concept of taking advantage of these prophecies for financial gain seems so unethical, and in the same way, typically contradictory to the beliefs and practices of the world’s main religions. Another aspect of this piece I found interesting was the comment on magic of the “schemes, scams, and distortions based on emergent forms of personal charisma” words that are often used to describes religious institutions as well as totalitarian regimes. Does financial gambling not produce the same cost benefit analysis of risk, and potential gain? I think in the context that these “magical” workers have been placed for the purpose of the piece, they have been in a way socially or culturally pushed to the side so as to make room for the studies of forecasting, risk management, calculative action. This does very much “confuse the spheres of chance and risk as technical features of human life.” I think that there is likely more to be said here on the role that religious beliefs directly affect the believes financial risks, and not just as related to magic, a concept usually denied and shut down by many institutional heads.