Thorstein Veblen's Darwinian framework and gene-culture coevolution theory. Issue 4 (3rd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kologlugil, Serhat
• Is Part Of: European journal of the history of economic thought. Volume 23:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 641
• Page End: 672
• Publication Date: 2016-07-03
• Subjects: Thorstein Veblen -- Darwinian theory -- gene-culture coevolution -- dual inheritance -- cultural evolution; B15 -- B31 -- B52 -- Z13; Economic history -- Periodicals; 330.94
• DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2015.1018292
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0967-2567

Abstract

Abstract: At the turn of the previous century, Thorstein Veblen used Darwinian evolutionary principles to explain the macro-historical evolution of human societies, as well as the institutional structure of the modern pecuniary culture. Even if Veblen had a strong intuitive grasp of the evolutionary forces operating in society, he was not always clear and explicit in developing his ideas towards a full-fledged, consistent evolutionary social theory. This paper argues that a relatively recent theoretical approach, gene-culture coevolution theory, has the conceptual apparatus to remedy this problem and thus make Veblen's ideas an important part of contemporary evolutionary thinking in social theory.