Appropriation, beliefs, and inculcation: Some other connections between American Pragmatism and Veblen’s conspicuous consumer
Abstract
Thorstein Veblen was a founding father of the original institutional economics.
Veblen’s first book, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), introduced to economists an
interdisciplinary perspective to understand consumers’ decision-making. This perspective relied on the processual nature of instincts, habits, and institutions. Veblen’s ideas on human
behavior were not completely original, and it has been widely recognized that some of
his insights clearly reference the teachings of the American pragmatic school of philosophy.
In light of this, our study offers an interpretation of Veblen’s ideas on consumer behavior
through the viewpoints of the main thinkers of the pragmatist school of his time. This study
explores some important themes within pragmatism, such as William James’s concept of
appropriation, Charles Peirce’s understanding of belief and social impulse, and John Dewey’s
ideas on socialization and the inculcation of habits. Based on these references, we seek to
generate new insights into Veblen’s perspective on consumers’ decision-making in broader
terms and at the same time preserve his main philosophical references.
JEL Classification: B15; B52.
Keywords: Thorstein Veblen conspicuous consumption pragmatism pragmatic philosophy institutional economics