Fanfani's Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism
Book Review of Amintore Fanfani’s Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism Publisher: I.H.S. Press Reviewed by: Dr. Peter E. Chojnowski “The present capitalist system is an immense cosmos, into which the individual is born and which is presented to him, at least in so far as he is an individual, as an immutable environment in which he must live.” This quotation from Max Weber’s highly acclaimed book The Protestant Work Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism, is fittingly cited prior to any discussion of the, newly republished, book by Amintore Fanfani entitled Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism. In the above quotation, Weber recognized the totalitarian nature of Capitalism and the social, economic, and ideological absolute, which Capitalism is. During the 1930s, when Fanfani, an internationally acclaimed Italian Catholic economist, wrote his work, Capitalism was recognized as such, therefore, provoking a good or bad absolute response on the part of those who wished to challenge thi...