The 2023 Veblen-Commons Award Recipient: Jon D. Wisman: Thorstein Veblen, the Meaning of Work, and its Humanization

Thorstein Veblen gave special attention to work. He claimed that an instinct of workmanship “is present in all men, and asserts itself even under very adverse circumstances … [It] is the court of final appeal in any question of economic truth or adequacy.” Although many scholars have examined Veblen’s claim, this article differs by examining his conception of work in light of findings from anthropology, evolutionary psychology, and happiness research. The questions explored are: Why and how did Veblen understand work as instinctual and did his understanding conform to Charles Darwin’s concept of instincts? Is it an instinct that evolved to be pleasurable or to gain respect and status to motivate provisioning? If evidence supports the claim that work did indeed evolve to be pleasurable, and today much of it is not, then its restructuring should be a top social priority. Although Veblen’s understanding of work provides inadequate guidance as to how it should be restructured, he was pathbreaking in insisting that our understanding of this question, and of human behavior and society more generally, must be grounded in the evolutionary biology launched by Darwin. Accordingly, a second aim of this article is to offer support for Veblen’s attempt to do so.