Publisher's Synopsis
The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts is a book written by Thorstein Veblen, an American economist and sociologist. The book is a collection of essays that were originally published in various academic journals between 1898 and 1914. The book explores the relationship between human nature and the industrial arts. Veblen argues that the instinct of workmanship is a fundamental human trait that drives people to create and improve upon the objects they use in their daily lives. He also contends that the modern industrial system has largely suppressed this instinct, leading to a decline in the quality of goods and a loss of craftsmanship.Veblen critiques the capitalist system and its emphasis on profit over quality, arguing that this has led to a society that values consumerism and materialism over the satisfaction of creative and productive work. He suggests that a shift towards a more communal and cooperative system of production could help to restore the instinct of workmanship and improve the state of the industrial arts.Overall, The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts is a thought-provoking and insightful analysis of the relationship between human nature and the modern industrial system. It remains a seminal work in the fields of economics, sociology, and cultural criticism.In the ordinary course, it should seem, such an advance in the industrial arts as will result in an accumulation of wealth, a considerable and efficient industrial equipment, or in a systematic and permanent cultivation of the soil or an extensive breeding of herds or flocks, will also bring on ownership and property rights bearing on these valuable goods, or on the workmen, or on the land employed in their production. What has seemed the most natural and obvious beginnings of property rights, in the view of those economists who have taken an interest in the matter, is the storing up of valuables by such of the ancient workmen as were enabled, by efficiency, diligence or fortuitous gains, to produce somewhat more than their current consumption.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
