Author:
LI Kangmin, Post graduate, School of history, Nanjing University.
Abstract:
The British Industrial Revolution was advancing rapidly, and a middle class was gradually rising, in the time of John Wesley (1703-1791), famous British thinker, theologian and founder of Methodism. Wesley's ideas, especially his sense of time, originated in the disciplined life of Christian believers, and d tracked historical trends in the industrialization of Britain at the time; their Protestant ethic had a profound impact on Western society. Wesley combined a religious motivation with the goal of social morality and the notion of personal progress in work, and emphasized discipline and obedience with regard to a commercialized, refined and rationalized time, implementing a "time discipline" for the working class. From the perspective of historical sociology, Wesley's concept of time is the epitome of social discipline in the process of British industrialization, and played a profound role in organizing and standardizing the formation of the discipline and class consciousness of British workers.
Keywords:
John Wesley, Time Consciousness, Industrial Revolution, Discipline
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