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Thorstein Veblen, the evolution of the predatory instinct, and the origins of agriculture

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  • Vincent Barnett

Abstract

This article attempts to take Veblenian instinct analysis more seriously than is usually done in the institutionalist literature by providing a detailed investigation of how Thorstein Veblen understood the operation of one particular instinct, what he called the predatory instinct. It documents the nature of the predatory instinct, its evolutionary origin, its mode of operation, and various forms of its economic expression across geological time. It also explores various hypothesized relations between the predatory instinct and both the Neolithic origins of agriculture and the processes of animal domestication. It then evaluates Veblen’s formulation of these topics in relation to recent anthropological accounts of the evolution of the cognitive capacity of Homo hominids across both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of human prehistory.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Barnett, 2018. "Thorstein Veblen, the evolution of the predatory instinct, and the origins of agriculture," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 49-71, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eaiere:v:15:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s40844-017-0082-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s40844-017-0082-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barnett, Vincent, 2017. "Keynes, Animal Spirits, And Instinct: Reason Plus Intuition Is Better Than Rational," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 381-399, September.
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    7. Veblen, Thorstein, 1904. "Theory of Business Enterprise," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1904.
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    9. Vincent Barnett, 2017. "Veblen’s Two Types of Instinct and the Cognitive Foundations of Evolutionary-Institutional Economics," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 541-562, April.
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