Search

The spirit of capitalism. A still useful concept? Suggestions from Werner Sombart’s analysis. The paper aims to investigate, from a theoretical point of view, the usefulness of the concept of “spirit of capitalism” and its connections with the social imaginary in the sociological debate, using, as starting point basis for critical reflection, the conceptualization elaborated by the German sociologist Werner Sombart. Is it still possible to find a spiritual dimension in today’s capitalism? And what about the capitalistic spirit of the first capitalism? The paper aims to understand if and how the classical sociological reflection may provide valid answers to these questions.