The Economic Systems of Foraging, Agricultural, and Industrial Societies
Tilman affirms his affinity with the growing group of Veblen scholars (see, for example, Edgell 2001, copiously cited in Tilman) who reject the long-held and formerly quite universally accepted interpretation advanced by Joseph Dorfman of Veblen asculturally segregated, marginalized, and a philanderer. Veblen's latter-day pessimism, even cynicism, is contrasted negatively by Tilman with Dewey's optimism. Tilman, in fact, quotes Clarence Ayres to this effect (p. 202), indicating as a possible explanation the greater recognition accorded Dewey as well as the more extensive appreciation of his work. It may be, however, that Veblen was more realist than pessimist, that is, that his pessimism was justified, given the state of the nation and the direction in which it seemed headed. On that score, and if a personal recollection may be forgiven, I recall hearing Ayres comment, near the end of his life, that it might be necessary for things to hit rock bottom before any improvement could occur, 1 thus himself striking a less than optimistic note. It is always a pleasure to encounter a work devoted to Veblen's thought. This book should have wide appeal for those with an interest in American intellectual history. It will have particular attraction for those with a predilection for heterodox economics.