Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:25:03.417Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

WHY ECONOMICS IS AN EVOLUTIONARY, MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE: HOW COULD VEBLEN’S VIEW OF ECONOMICS HAVE BEEN SO DIFFERENT THAN PEIRCE’S?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2021

James R. Wible
James R. Wible*
Affiliation:
James R. Wible: Department of Economics, Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

More than a century ago, one of the most famous essays ever written in American economics appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Economics: “Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?” There, Thorstein Veblen claimed that economics was too dominated by a mechanistic view to address the problems of economic life. Since the world and the economy had come to be viewed from an evolutionary perspective after Charles Darwin, it was rather straightforward to argue that the increasingly abstract mathematical character of economics was non-evolutionary. However, Veblen had studied with a first-rate intellect, Charles Sanders Peirce, attending his elementary logic class. If Peirce had written about the future of economics in 1898, it would have been very different than Veblen’s essay. Peirce could have written that economics should become an evolutionary mathematical science and that much of classical and neoclassical economics could be interpreted from an evolutionary perspective.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 350 - 377
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the History of Economics Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I would like to thank Robert Dimand, Steve Meardon, Guy Numa, and Karen Conway for helpful comments.

References

REFERENCES

Alchian, Armen. 1950. “Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory.” Journal of Political Economy 58 (3): 211–221.10.1086/256940CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulding, Kenneth J. 1981. Evolutionary Economics. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Brent, Joseph. 1998. Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life. Second edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Commons, John R. 1934. Institutional Economics: Its Place in Political Economy. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Darwin, Charles. [1859] 1968. Origin of Species. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. 1923. “The Pragmatism of Peirce.” In Cohen, Morris R., ed., Chance, Love, and Logic: Philosophical Essays by the Late Charles S. Peirce. New York: Harcourt Brace, pp. 301–308.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. [1925] 1984. “The Development of American Pragmatism.” In Boydston, Jo Ann, ed., The Collected Works of John Dewey: The Later Years. Volume 2. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 3–21.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. [1932] 1982. “Charles Sanders Peirce, Review of Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce , Vol 1.” In Boydston, Jo Ann, ed., The Collected Works of John Dewey: The Later Years. Volume 6. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 273–277.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. [1935] 1982. “The Founder of Pragmatism, Review of the Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Vol 5.” In Boydston, Jo Ann, ed., The Collected Works of John Dewey: The Later Years. Volume 11. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 421–424.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. [1937] 1982. “Charles Sanders Peirce, Review of Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Vol 1–6.” In Boydston, Jo Ann, ed., The Collected Works of John Dewey: The Later Years. Volume 11. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 479–484.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. 1938. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. New York: Holt and Company.Google Scholar
Dimand, Robert W. 1998. “Fisher and Veblen: Two Paths for American Economics.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 20 (4): 449–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorfman, Joseph. 1934. Thorstein Veblen and His America. New York: The Viking Press.Google Scholar
Dorfman, Joseph. 1949. The Economic Mind in American Civilization 1865–1918. New York: The Viking Press.Google Scholar
Dyer, Alan W. 1986. “Veblen on Scientific Creativity: The Influence of Charles S. Peirce.” Journal of Economic Issues 20 (1): 21–41.10.1080/00213624.1986.11504470CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyson, George. 2012. Turing’s Cathedral. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Eisele, Carolyn. 1979. “The Mathematics of Economics.” In Martin, R. M., ed., Studies in the Mathematical Philosophy of Charles S. Peirce. New York: Mouton Publishers, pp. 251–254.Google Scholar
Ely, Richard, T. [1884] 2005. “The Past and the Present of Political Economy.” In Barber, William J., ed., The Development of the National Economy: The United States from the Civil War through the 1890s. London: Pickering & Chatto, pp. 7–66.Google Scholar
Fisch, Max. 1986. “Introduction.” In Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 4, 1879–1884. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. xix–lxx.Google Scholar
Fisher, Irving. [1892] 1965. Mathematical Investigations in the Theory of Value and Price. New York: A. M. Kelley.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1953. “The Methodology of Positive Economics.” Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 3–16, 30–43.Google Scholar
Georgescu-Roegen, Nicholas. 1971. The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, Wendell. 1980. Institutional Economics: The Changing System. Austin: University of Texas Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, Robert. 1998. “What Veblen Owed to Peirce—The Social Theory of Logic.” Journal of Economic Issues 32 (3): 733–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruchy, Allan. 1947. Modern Economic Thought: The American Contribution. New York: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hall, John, and Whybrow, Oliver. 2008. “Continuity and Consciousness: The Chain of Ideas Linking Peirce’s Synechism to Veblen’s.” Journal of Economic Issues 42 (2): 349–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayek, Friedrich A. 1945. “The Use of Knowledge in Society.” In Individualism and Economic Order. Auburn: Mises Institute, pp. 77–91. Reprinted from the American Economic Review 35 (4): 519–530.Google Scholar
Hoover, Kevin D., and Wible, James R.. 2020. “Ricardian Inference: Charles S. Peirce, Economics, and Scientific Method.” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 56, 4 (Fall): 521–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, William. 1903. “Letter to Charles Peirce.” In Skrupskelis, I. K. and Berkeley, E. M., eds., The Correspondence of William James: 1902–March 1905. Volume 10. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, March 13, p. 211.Google Scholar
Ketner, Kenneth L., and Putnam, Hilary. 1992. “Introduction: The Consequences of Mathematics.” In C. S. Peirce, Reasoning and the Logic of Things: The Cambridge Conferences Lectures of 1898. Edited by Turisi, P.. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp. 1–54.Google Scholar
Liebhafsky, Erwin Eugene. 1993. “The Influence of Charles Sanders Peirce on Institutional Economics.” Journal of Economic Issues 27 (3): 741–751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menand, Louis. 2001. The Metaphysical Club. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.Google Scholar
Mirowski, Philip. 1981. “Is There a Mathematical Neoinstitutional Economics?” In Samuels, W. J., ed., Institutional Economics II. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, pp. 63–83.Google Scholar
Misak, Cheryl. 2016. Cambridge Pragmatism: From Peirce and James to Ramsey and Wittgenstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphey, Murray G. 1993. The Development of Peirce’s Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Newcomb, Simon. 1879a. “Law and Design in Nature.” North American Review 128 (270): 537–543.Google Scholar
Newcomb, Simon. 1879b. “Evolution and Theology: A Rejoinder.” North American Review 128 (271): 647–663.Google Scholar
Newcomb, Simon. 1886 [1966]. Principles of Political Economy. New York: A. M. Kelley.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. 1931–1958. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Volumes 1–6 edited by Hartshorne, Charles and Weiss, Paul. Volumes 7–8 edited by Burks, Arthur. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (CP)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1976. New Elements of Mathematics. Edited by Eisele, Carolyn. Four volumes. The Hague: Mouton Publishers. (NEM)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1984–2010. Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volumes 1–6 and 8. Many editors. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (WP)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1992 and 1998. The Essential Peirce. Edited by Houser, Nathan and Kloesel, Christian and the Peirce Edition Project. Two volumes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (EP)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 2010. Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Writings. Edited by Moore, Matthew E.. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (PM)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1865. “Lecture X: Grounds of Induction.” WP 1, pp. 272–286.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1868. “Questions Concerning Reality.” WP 2, pp. 165–187.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1870 [1984]. “Description of a Notation for the Logic of Relatives.” WP 2, pp. 359–429.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1871. “[Letter to Benjamin Peirce].” NEM, Vol. III/I, pp. 553–554.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1874. “[On Political Economy].” WP 3, pp. 173–76.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1877. “The Fixation of Belief.” WP 3, pp. 242–257.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878a. “How to Make Our Ideas Clear.” WP 3, pp. 257–276.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878b. “The Doctrine of Chances.” WP 3, pp. 276–289.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878c. “The Probability of Induction.” WP 3, pp. 290–305.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878d. “The Order of Nature.” WP 3, pp. 306–322.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878e. “Deduction, Induction, and Hypothesis.” WP 3, pp. 323–338.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1878f. Photometric Researches: Made in the Years 1872–1875. WP 3, pp. 382–393.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1879. “Note on the Theory of the Economy of Research.” United States Coast Survey for the fiscal year ending June 1876. U.S. Government Printing Office 1879. WP 4, pp. 72–78.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1882. “Introductory Lecture on the Study of Logic.” WP 4, pp. 378–382.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. ed. 1883. Studies in Logic by Members of the Johns Hopkins University. WP 4, pp. 406–450; CP 2, pp. 313–326, 433–477.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1887–88. A Guess at the Riddle. WP 6, pp. 168–210; EP 1, pp. 245–279; CP 1, pp. 181–226 (different versions).Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1889. “Reflections on the Logic of Science.” WP 6, pp. 246–259.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1890. “Sketch of a New Philosophy.” WP 8, pp. 19–22.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1891. “The Architecture of Theories.” EP 1, pp. 285–297.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1892a. “The Doctrine of Necessity Examined.” EP 1, pp. 298–311.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1892b. “The Law of Mind.” EP 1, pp. 312–333; CP 6, pp. 86–113.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1892c. “Man’s Glassy Essence.” EP 1, pp. 334–351.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1893a. “Evolutionary Love.” EP 1, pp. 352–371; CP 6, pp. 190–215.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1892–93. “Lowell Lectures on the History of Science.” In Eisele, Carolyn, ed., Historical Perspectives on Peirce’s Logic of Science: A History of Science. Berlin: Mouton Publishers, pp. 141–295.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1893b. “The Logic of Quantity.” CP 4, pp. 59–131.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1894. “What Is a Sign.” EP 2, pp. 2–10.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1895a. “On the Logic of Quantity.” PM, pp. 43–56.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1895b. New Elements of Geometry Based on Benjamin Peirce’s Works and Teachings. “Book II, Topology.” NEM II, pp. 273–317.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1897–1919. “Mathematical Correspondence: William James, L224.” NEM III 2, pp. 788–978.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. [1898] 1992. Reasoning and the Logic of Things: The Cambridge Conference Lectures of 1898. Edited by Ketner, K. L.. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1902a. “A Detailed Classification of the Sciences.” CP 1, pp. 83–137; CP 7, pp. 223–248.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1902b. “Why Study Logic.” In “Minute Logic.” CP 2, pp. 67–119.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1903a. Harvard Lectures on Pragmatism. EP 2, pp. 133–241.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1903b. [Pragmatism and Mathematics].” PM, pp. 67–77 (a section of a lecture not delivered as part of the first seven Harvard lectures).Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S.. 1907. “Guessing.” Manuscript retitled “[Later Reflections]” by the editors of the Collected Papers. CP 7, pp. 27–34.Google Scholar
Popper, Karl. 1972. “Of Clouds and Clocks: An Approach to the Problem of Rationality and the Freedom of Man.” In Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 206–255.Google Scholar
Rutherford, Malcolm. 1990. “Science, Self-Correction and Values: From Peirce to Institutionalism.” In Lutz, M. A., ed., Social Economics: Retrospect and Prospect. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 391–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutherford, Malcolm. 2011. The Institutionalist Movement in American Economics: 1918–1947: Science and Social Control. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tool, Marc R. 1979. The Discretionary Economy: A Normative Theory of Political Economy. Santa Monica: Goodyear Publishing.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. 1898. “Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 12 (4): 373–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1899a] 1994. Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1899b] 1919. “The Preconceptions of Economics Science I.” In The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell, pp. 82–113.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1899c] 1919. “The Preconceptions of Economics Science II.” In The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell, pp. 114–147.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1900] 1919. “The Preconceptions of Economics Science III.” In The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell, pp. 148–179.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. 1904. Theory of Business Enterprise. New York: Scribner and Sons.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1906] 1919. “The Place of Science in Modern Civilization.” In The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell, pp. 1–31.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. [1908] 1919. “The Evolution of the Scientific Point of View.” In The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell, pp. 32–55.Google Scholar
Veblen, Thorstein. 1919. The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: Russell and Russell.Google Scholar
Wible, James R. 1994. “Charles Sanders Peirce’s Economy of Research.” Journal of Economic Methodology 1 (1): 135–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wible, James R.. 2014. “Peirce’s Economic Model in The First Harvard Lecture on Pragmatism.” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 50 (4): 548–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wible, James R.. 2017. “Is God a Mathematical Economist?: Some Thoughts on RBC and DSGE Macro Models and General Equilibrium Theory from the Vantage Point of the Peirce Conjecture.” History of Economics Society Meetings, University of Toronto, June 2017.Google Scholar
Wible, James R.. 2020. “C. S. Peirce’s Theory of Abductive Expectations.” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 27 (1): 2–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wible, James R.. Forthcoming. “C. S. Peirce’s Semiotic and Mathematical Conception of Economics.” Recherches Sémiotiques / Semiotic Inquiry. Google Scholar
Wible, James R., and Hoover, Kevin. 2015. “Mathematical Economics Comes to America: Charles S. Peirce’s Engagement with Cournot’s Recherches sur les Principes Mathematiques de la Théorie des Richesses .” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 37 (4): 551–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar