论基督新教伦理的思想实质

On the Essence of Protestant Ethics

基督新教及其伦理思想以世俗社会生活为基础。新教伦理的思想实质,就是在信仰范围内以隐蔽的方式关注和肯定人的智慧、尊严以及通过劳动来追求利润的必要性与合理性,由此反映出人道主义倾向。若忽略或否定新教及其伦理的这一思想实质,我们便难以正确认识它在欧洲近代社会中的作用和价值。

Protestantism and its ethics are based on civil social activities. The essence of Protestant ethics is, within the limitation of belief and in some ways or other, to heed and praise the wisdom and dignity of human beings, and the necessity and rationality in their pursuit of profits through labor. It is this that reflects its inclination of humanism. Any efforts to neglect or deny the essence of Protestantism and its ethics, one can hardly understand the value and special role it played in modem European society.