Veblen's "Instinct of Workmanship," its Cognitive Foundations, and Some Implications for Economic Theory

Christian Cordes

Papers on Economics and Evolution from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group

Abstract: This paper delivers some findings from the present-day cognitive sciences on man’s cognitive dispositions that support aspects of Veblen’s "nstinct of workmanship," which is an essential starting point of his evolutionary theory of institutional change. These cognitive dispositions partly govern which information will be subject to profound contemplation and be easy to disseminate within a population. Furthermore, they may give rise to a bias in human creativity. As a result, some cognitive foundations of the "nstinct of workmanship" may induce a general direction in long-term economic development by influencing the continuous accretion of knowledge during cultural evolution.

Keywords: human instincts; technological change; institutional change; longterm economic development; evolutionary economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B15 B52 O33 E11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-dev, nep-hpe and nep-pke
Date: 2004-01
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:esi:evopap:2004-01

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