Spirit

Since old times the two dimensionalities of human beings, i.e., their having a material body and an immaterial soul (spirit), has been a controversial problem. In the Abrahamic religions, the human soul is considered to be immaterial and in interaction with the body. Furthermore, it is considered to be a special effusion of God to each individual human being. During the modern times, with the dominance of empiricism, the prevalent view considers human soul a byproduct of matter. In fact, from the naturalistic viewpoint of modern science, there is no place for mind or consciousness as a novel and immaterial subject, but there are some important ideas about this subject, and some eminent scientists of our time believe that the human soul is immaterial and is never explainable by science. Among the latter group, there are some celebrated scientists who believe that human soul is God’s special effusion to human beings. In this article, we mention and analyze some of these important ideas.

The purpose of this study is to implement a comparative approach to investigate the interplay between religion and the rise of capitalism through the perspectives of Max Weber and Werner Sombart. By contextualizing their positions within the intellectual debates of their time, this study highlights their respective inclinations towards the Austrian School and the German Historical School. Weber's Neo-Kantian influences and Sombart's Hegelian roots further deepen the philosophical and epistemological divide between them. In the next step, the methodology and theories regarding the spirit of modern capitalism, religious motivation, and the future of capitalism are reflected. Weber's work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, posits that Protestant ethics played a crucial role in the development of modern capitalism, emphasizing rationalization and ethical discipline. In contrast, Sombart's works, including Der Moderne Kapitalismus and Jews and Modern Economic Life, argue for a broader array of influences, integrating psychological, social, and cultural factors in shaping capitalist behavior and especially emphasizing the role of Judaism. The research underscores their contrasting views: Weber sees capitalism and Protestant ethics as singular phenomena with an elective affinity, while Sombart views capitalism as the manifestation of a modern capitalist spirit (Geist) influencing psychological incentives and broader social needs.

Martin Heidegger claimed that German Idealism, especially the thought of Hegel, had brought to light a deficiency in the entire rationalist tradition of philosophy, which, when exposed as clearly as Hegel had, meant that the tradition could no longer credibly continue. He went on to argue that the implications of this deficiency had spread far beyond academic philosophy, were manifest in the daily life of the modern West, contributing to a historical world dominated by the technological predation of nature, conformism, thoughtlessness and a degraded cultural life. The tradition, he said, had “culminated” in the thought of Hegel; that is, the deficiency and its implications had finally become clearest in his system. The question raised in this article is whether Heidegger meant to charge that Hegel had simply neglected a question (“the meaning of being”) which he should have raised, or whether that neglect renders suspect the many other issues Hegel raises.