The question of human identity as being at the heart of modernity is one posed a century ago by Max Weber. Weber studied the Protestant Work Ethic as the fundamental force which shaped large portions of European civilization, and eventually spread world-wide through the expansion of European imperial power. Out of this power came the identity of the European industrial worker, who creates the self-alienating world of modern consciousness. This is a seamless argument, but we will pick it up, not chronologically, but in terms of a thematic approach, following the approach set out in the Introduction. The question of the Protestant Work Ethic, and its survival in the present day, is taken up in chapter 3, and the transformation of this ethic into an ethic of consumerism is argued historically in chapter 2. In chapter 1, a philosophical overview of the marketing identity and rationality is given. Those who would prefer to move into the substantive issues of consumerism and work can begin this study at chapter 2, ignoring the philosophical argument. Nevertheless, the philosophical grounding encapsulates the entire book.

What is important at this point is to notice how central Weber's formulation of the Protestant Work Ethic is to Jürgen Habermas, who is the pre-eminent German philosopher of social relations at the present time. This is because Habermas uses Weber's theory as a way into the question of human identity.