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Veblen's trias The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904), and The Instinct of Workmanship, and the State of the Industrial Arts (1914) form a unique framework that we can fix as a "system of economic and social theory". But no one begins with his own system. Therefore we present alternative outlines of social theories from some of Veblen's contemporaries.

I. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ENCYCLOPAEDIÆ (selection)

Digital books on economic and social history (Univ. Cologne - Germany)
History of Economics (McMaster - U.S.).
History of Economic Thought" ('New School' - U.S.).
Internet Archive (Digital Library, Texts in txt- and djvu-format)
M(aking)O(f)A(merica) Digital Library
"RePEc Ideas - bibliographic database" (University of Connecticut, U.S.)
Social Science Information Gateway

II. ALTERNATIVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL OUTLINES (selection)

Lester Frank Ward (1841-1913)
Sociologist, who was instrumental in establishing sociology as an academic discipline in the U.S. His books are an excellent guide to the major trends in late 19th century liberal thought.
In 1897 Ward gave two courses of lectures at the Univ. of Chicago, one on 'Pure' and the other on 'Applied Sociology'. They form a wide spread system, that is able to demonstrate the intellectual background of Veblen's own drafts.
These books (and more, all arranged by me!) are delivered for a free download in pdf-format via The Online Books Page (Pennsylvania Univ., U.S.), or in a more complete form at [this site]

Lester F. Ward
  • (1883, 21897) Dynamic Sociology (2 vols.). Or Applied social science as bases upon statical sociology and the less complex sciences.
  • (1893, 21906) The Psychic Factors of Civilization.
  • (1897, repr. 1913) Outlines of Sociology.
  • (1902) Contemporary Sociology.
  • (1903) Pure Sociology. A Treatise on the Origin and Spontaneous Development of Society.
  • (1906) Applied Sociology. A Treatise on the Conscious Improvement of Society by Society.
  • (1913-18) Glimpses of the Cosmos, Comprising His Minor Contributions. Now Republished, Together with Biographical and Historical Sketches of All His Writings (6 vols.).

Franklin Henry Giddings (1855-1931)
A founder of American sociological theory and research. In 1894 appointed Prof. of Sociology at Columbia Univ.; the first full-time professor of sociology in the U.S.

Franklin H. Giddings
  • (1896) Principles of Sociology. An Analysis of the Phenomena of Association and of Social Organization.
  • (1898) Elements of Sociology.
  • (1901) Inductive Sociology. A Syllabus of Methods, Analyses and Classifications, and Provisionally Formulated Laws.

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881)
American ethnologist and a principal founder of scientific anthropology.

Lewis H. Morgan
  • (1873) Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Familiy.
  • (1877) Ancient Society. Or Researches in the Line of Human Progress from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization. (from www.marxists.org)

William Graham Sumner (1840-1910)
Professor of Political Economy and of Sociology at Yale University.
Sumner and Noah Porter (1811-1892) where Veblen's influential teachers during his time at Yale.

William Graham Sumner
  • (1883) What Social Classes Owe to each other (New York: Harper and Bros.).
  • (1891) The Financier & the finances of the American Revolution (2 vols.; New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co.)
  • (1906) Folkways: a study of the sociological importance of usages, manners, customs, mores, and morals. (Boston: Ginn and Co.)

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
English sociologist and philosopher, an early advocate of the theory of evolution.
He achieved an influential synthesis of knowledge, advocating the preeminence of the individual over society and of science over religion.

Herbert Spencer (ca. 1865)
  • (1851) Social Statics.
  • (1855) The Principles of Psychology. (2 vols.).
    [A System of Synthetic Philosophy; (short: 'SP') vols. 4-5]
  • (1862) First Principles. [SP; vol. 1]
  • (1864) Principles of Biology, (2 vols.). [SP; vols. 2-3]
  • (1873) The Study of Sociology.
  • (1882-98) The Principles of Sociology. 3 vols. [SP; vols. 6-8]
    Contents:
    Vol. 1: pt. 1. The data of sociology. pt. 2. The inductions of sociology. pt. 3. The domestic relations;
    Vol. 2: pt. 4. Ceremonial institutions. pt. 5. Political institutions;
    Vol. 3: pt. 6. Ecclesiastical institutions. pt. 7. Professional institutions. pt. 8. Industrial institutions.
  • (1884) The Man versus the State.
  • (1887) The Factors of Organic Evolution.
  • (1892) The Principles of Ethics. (2 vols.). [SP; vols. 9-10]

Eugen (Ritter) von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)
Austrian economist and statesman. He developed a theory of the origin and determination of the rate of interest and the period of turnover of capital occurring with the attainment of the market clearing wage.

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

James Laurence Laughlin (1850-1934)
American influential economist (esp. Harvard and Chicago).

James Laurence Laughlin
  • (1885) The Study of Political Economy: Hints to Students and Readers.
  • (1886) The History of Bimetallism in the United States (from econlib.org).
  • (1887) The Elements of Political Economy, with Some Applications to Questions of the Day.
  • (1903) The Principles Of Money.
  • (1906) Industrial America. Berlin lectures of 1906.
  • (1909) The Elements of Political Society.
  • (1912) Banking Reform.
  • (1918) Credit of the nations: a study of the European War.
  • (1920) Banking Progress.
  • (1920) Money and Prices.
  • (1933) The Federal Reserve Act, Its Origin and Problems.

Albion Woodbury Small (1854-1926)
First professor of sociology in the United States, at the University of Chicago (1892). There he organized the first U.S. sociology department. Under his leadership, it became the major center for sociology during the first 30 years of the 20th century.

Albion W. Small
  • (1894) An Introduction to the Study of Society (with George E. Vincent. [The world's first sociological textbook]).
  • (1907) Adam Smith and Modern Sociology. A Study in the Methodology of the Social Sciences. (from McMaster).
  • (1909) The Cameralists. The Pioneers of German Social Policy. (from McMaster).
  • (1910) The meaning of social science.
  • (1913) Between Eras from Capitalism to Democracy. A cycle of conversations and discourses with occasional side-lights upon the speakers.

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