Thorstein veblen brief biography of martin

A Brief Biographical Sketch[1]

Thorstein Veblen was a radical; his theory cut deeply into the orthodox assumptions and pre-conceptions of American society, challenging them root and branch.

Academic legends abound concerning Veblen’s academic career, many of which derive from Joseph Dorman’s Thorstein Veblen and His America. Recent research suggests however that in fact Veblen was rather more conventional in his bearing and behavior than the numerous tales of his romantic prowess would lead one to believe.

Thorstein veblen brief biography of martin luther

Indeed, Veblen’s older brother, Andrew, who Dorfman interviewed for his book, insisted that the latter much exaggerated the family’s cultural isolation. According to Andrew, the Veblens regularly associated with and befriended many of their Yankee and Catholic neighbors.

Whatever may have led Thorstein Veblen to his novel ideas, it was not the social marginality of his upbringing in the American mid-west.

Veblen’s work cracked through the confinements of conventional thought, bu