The Formation of a “Spirit of Capitalism” in Upper Germany
Leonhard Fronsperger’s “On the Praise of Self-Interest”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21634875 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rainer Klump (0000-0003-2424-132X, Goethe University Frankfurt, corresponding author), Lars Pilz (Goethe University Frankfurt, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 401-419 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of Economic Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-8372 • E-ISSN: 1469-9656 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1053837220000164 |
| OpenAlex | W3183099866 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
In 1564, Leonhard Fronsperger, a military expert and citizen of the Free Imperial City of Ulm in Upper Germany, publishes the booklet “On the Praise of Self-Interest” (“Von dem Lob deß Eigen Nutzen”). Using the form of a satirical poem, he demonstrates how the individual pursuit of self-interest can lead to the common good. Writing long before Bernard Mandeville and Adam Smith, Fronsperger presents a thorough analysis of all kinds of self-interested social, political, and economic relations. His praise of self-interest demonstrates how, over the sixteenth century, the interplay of economic success (in particular in major trading cities), a more realistic conception of human behavior, and some aspects of humanism and the Reformation led to a new understanding of the origins of economic dynamics. This becomes the basis for what Max Weber ([1904–05] 2009) would later term “the spirit of capitalism.”
Adam smith · Art · Capitalism · Economics · Humanism · Literature · Neoclassical economics · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Praise · Self-interest · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |