Thorstein Veblen on culture, biology, and evolution

This work reevaluates the place of biology and evolution in the economics of Thorstein Veblen. It is argued that to understand Veblen's analysis of socioeconomic transformation, the evolution of Veblen's own thinking must receive close attention because his use of biology and evolution changed over time. Veblen is generally taken as using biological evolution as a metaphor for socioeconomic change. However, the biological traits of human beings played a more significant role in Veblen's economic theory than is generally recognized. In his early work Veblen attempted to explain the process of economic evolution by integrate biological and social change into a single process but was unable to clearly distinguish changes in human nature from changes in institutions. After adopting Mendelian mutation theory, Veblen treated human nature as constant and explained socioeconomic evolution in terms of cultural change. With the outbreak of World War I Veblen became more immediately concerned with current affairs and never returned to the question of biology's role in explaining behavior.