Veblen on Scientific Creativity: The Influence of Charles S. Peirce

Abstract

Thorstein Veblen's analysis of scientific method focuses on the nature of scientific creativity. His primary interest was how scientists create hypotheses. An essential task in organizing his analysis is to recognize its fundamental similarity to Charles S. Peirce's theory of inquiry. Once Veblen's conceptualization of scientific inquiry is organized according to Peirce's systematic views on science, Veblen's views are seen to be ordered around the question: How do scientists create? To show that Veblen succeeds in developing a theory of inquiry that focuses on the problem of creativity, it is necessary to show the parallels between his theory and Peirce's. Veblen was a student of Peirce's at Johns Hopkins, but there is little evidence of the latter's influence on him. Nonetheless, I will show that knowledge of Peirce's analysis of creative scientific inquiry advances the understanding of Veblen's philosophy of science; and Veblen's theory of inquiry offers economists a promising logic of inquiry, one that guides and spurs creative advance. After analyzing the parallels between Veblen's and Peirce's views of scientific creativity, I will explain in my conclusion how this novel understanding of Veblen clarifies the fundamental difference between institu

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