Thorstein Veblen Department of Sociology凡勃伦社会学系.pptVIP

Michael Sexton Christy Suesakul THORSTEIN VEBLEN BACKGROUND Thorstein Bunde Veblen was born July 30, 1857 on a Wisconsin Farm. He was the sixth of twelve children born to Norwegian immigrants. When he was seventeen he entered the academy of Carleton, a Christian evangelical school which was very strict towards free-thinking and –acting behavior. Veblen was not well suited for this college but still graduated in 1880. He received a Ph.D from a Ivy League school and strong letters of recommendation from that school but still was subject to discrimination because of his agnostic views and Norwegian background (immigrant status). He decided to continue his studies at Cornell as a graduate student in social sciences in 1891. Here he published a paper, “Some Neglected Points in the Theory of Socialism” along with a number of technical papers for The Quarterly Journal of Economics. This lead to him becoming an instructor at the University of Chicago. BACKGROUND Veblens teaching methods at the University of Chicago were different and he was known deliberately discourage students from taking his class. He would mumble through his lectures but his students would always admire his wit. He also very susceptical to women who were very attracted to him and there were many rumors about his affairs. When he realized the college frowned at this behavior he said “what am I to do, if I am pursued, and I am not the pursuer”. He became the editor of the Journal of Political Economy. In 1898 he published his first critique of economic theory, “Why is Economics Not and Evolutionary Science?” He then published two books, the first and most widely read , The Theory of Leisure Class. The other The Theory of Business Enterprise which was not as well received as Leisure. BACKGROUND His womanizing finally caught up to him and caused both his job at the University of Chicago and his wife finally leaving him. A former student and good friend to Veblen helped him out and was able to get him a