Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Veblen: A Pioneer of Social Economics
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Thorstein Bunde Veblen was a renowned American economist, sociologist, and philosopher who is widely recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of social economics. He is commonly known as T.B. Veblen or simply Thorstein Veblen.
Birth and Death Dates
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Veblen was born on July 30, 1857, in Cato, Wisconsin, USA, and passed away on August 3, 1929, at the age of 72.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Veblen held dual American and Norwegian citizenship, reflecting his mixed ancestry. He worked as an economist, sociologist, and philosopher, leaving a lasting impact on the fields of economics, sociology, and social theory.
Early Life and Background
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Thorstein Veblen was born to Norwegian immigrants who settled in Wisconsin. His family's cultural background significantly influenced his perspective on life, shaping his views on social hierarchy and inequality. Veblen's upbringing in a rural area also instilled in him an appreciation for the natural world and a sense of skepticism towards conventional social norms.
Veblen pursued higher education at Carleton College (now known as Carleton University) in Minnesota, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He then moved to Yale University to continue his studies but eventually transferred to Johns Hopkins University, completing his Ph.D. in 1884 with a dissertation on the economics of railroads.
Major Accomplishments
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Veblen's work had a profound impact on various fields, including economics, sociology, and social theory. Some of his most significant contributions include:
The Conspicuous Consumption Theory: Veblen introduced the concept of conspicuous consumption, which posits that individuals engage in extravagant spending to demonstrate their wealth and status.
Social Darwinism Critique: He challenged the idea of Social Darwinism, arguing that the concept of "survival of the fittest" was misapplied in human societies.
Institutional Economics: Veblen's work laid the foundation for institutional economics, which emphasizes the importance of social and economic institutions in shaping individual behavior.Notable Works or Actions
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Some of Veblen's most notable works include:
"The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899): This book introduced the concept of conspicuous consumption and explored the relationship between wealth, status, and social behavior.
"The Instinct of Workmanship" (1914): In this work, Veblen examined the role of technology in shaping human society and the impact of industrialization on individual behavior.
"The Engineers and the Price System" (1921): This book critiqued the existing economic system and proposed alternative approaches to economic organization.
Impact and Legacy
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Thorstein Veblen's work has had a lasting impact on various fields, including economics, sociology, and social theory. His ideas have influenced thinkers such as John Kenneth Galbraith, C. Wright Mills, and Herbert Marcuse, among others. Veblen's critiques of capitalism and his emphasis on the importance of social institutions continue to shape contemporary debates in economics and sociology.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Veblen is widely quoted and remembered for several reasons:
Pioneering Work: His contributions to institutional economics, social Darwinism critique, and conspicuous consumption theory have left a lasting impact on the fields of economics and sociology.
Influence on Social Thought: Veblen's ideas continue to shape contemporary debates in economics, sociology, and social theory, making him a key figure in modern social thought.
* Timeless Relevance: His critiques of capitalism and emphasis on the importance of social institutions remain relevant today, addressing ongoing concerns about economic inequality and social justice.
Quotes by Thorstein Veblen
Conspicuous abstention from labour therefore becomes the conventional mark of superior pecuniary achievement and the conventional index of reputability; and conversely, since application to productive labour is a mark of poverty and subjection, it becomes inconsistent with a reputable standing in the community.
As a matter of selective necessity, man is an agent. He is, in his own apprehension, a centre of unfolding impulsive activity – “teleological” activity. He is an agent seeking in every act the accomplishment of some concrete, objective, impersonal end. By force of his being such an agent he is possessed of a taste for effective work, and a distaste for futile effort.
She lives with man on terms of equality, knows nothing of that relation of status which is the ancient basis of all distinctions of worth, honor, and repute, and she does not lend herself with facility to an invidious comparison between her owner and his neighbors.
In the rare cases where it occurs, a failure to increase one’s visible consumption when the means for an increase are at hand is felt in popular apprehension to call for explanation, and unworthy motives of miserliness are imputed.
Inherited aptitudes and traits of temperament count for quite as much as length of habituation in deciding what range of habits will come to dominate any individual’s scheme of life.
In itself and in its consequences the life of leisure is beautiful and ennobling in all civilised men’s eyes.
The abjectly poor, and all those persons whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative because they have small occasion to be discontented with the situation as it stands today.
Labor wants pride and joy in doing good work, a sense of making or doing something beautiful or useful – to be treated with dignity and respect as brother and sister.
The addiction to sports, therefore, in a peculiar degree marks an arrested development in man’s moral nature.
The individual’s habits of thought make an organic complex, the trend of which is necessarily in the direction of serviceability to the life process. When it is attempted to assimilate systematic waste or futility, as an end in life, into this organic complex, there presently supervenes a revulsion.