The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 14.0797  Monday, 28 April 2003

[1]     From:   John W. Kennedy <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 >
        Date:   Friday, 25 Apr 2003 11:59:18 -0400
        Subj:   Re: SHK 14.0784 Re: A Dream of Hanoi

[2]     From:   Martin Steward <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 >
        Date:   Saturday, 26 Apr 2003 10:00:30 +0100
        Subj:   SHK 14.0773 Re: A Dream of Hanoi


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           John W. Kennedy <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 >
Date:           Friday, 25 Apr 2003 11:59:18 -0400
Subject: 14.0784 Re: A Dream of Hanoi
Comment:        Re: SHK 14.0784 Re: A Dream of Hanoi

Don Bloom <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 > writes,

>I'm afraid I find myself puzzled by the connection of Calvin to "the
>confusing of money with morality. This is not one of his teachings that
>I have come across, although my reading in the "Institutes" is
>admittedly limited.

Although Calvin, in the "Institutes", is not so silly as to imagine such
a thing, yet in his insistence on Divine Providence over all, he skates
very close to the edge, as in:

      But if the disasters and miseries which press us happen
      without the agency of men, let us call to mind the doctrine
      of the Law, (Deu 28: 1) that all prosperity has its source
      in the blessing of God, that all adversity is his curse.
           (I, 17, ix)

And it is a practical fact of the socio-economic history of England (at
least) that capitalism and Calvinism had a long marriage of convenience.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Martin Steward <
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 >
Date:           Saturday, 26 Apr 2003 10:00:30 +0100
Subject: Re: A Dream of Hanoi
Comment:        SHK 14.0773 Re: A Dream of Hanoi

"By this I mean that superior sales are treated as superior values, and
having influence is seen as a goal, rather than a means. The fact that
American culture has influence is taken as proof in itself that it has
value, even if that influence has been bought or imposed."

So what is Anna Kamaralli saying? That the vast majority of consumers
are fools, or boors?

Or something altogether more... Althusserian?

To Don Bloom, who asks, "Could I get a clarification on the meaning of
Calvinism and Calvinist as used in this [economic] context?" I suggest
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; and R H
Tawney, Religon and the Rise of Capitalism. Both out of date, both
questionable, both classics.

m

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, 
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.