Reviving Veblenian economic psychology

Abstract

Thorstein Veblen's seminal paper ‘Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?’ (1898) is well known for its critique of rational economic man. However, rather than just criticise this model, Veblen developed an alternative, evolutionary-informed approach to understanding human nature, based partly on the ideas of Peirce, James and, later, McDougall. The aim of this paper is to show how recent results from a number of cognitive disciplines are beginning to reaffirm many of Veblen's core psychological assumptions. The paper argues that an active, multimodular and hierarchical approach to the mind can help provide a more integrative framework in which to examine economic behaviour.

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