Continuity and Continuousness: The Chain of Ideas Linking Peirce’s Synechism to Veblen’s Cumulative Causation

Abstract

:This paper seeks to establish that a chain of ideas connects and effectively links together core thoughts advanced by philosopher Charles Peirce with economist Thorstein Veblen. Peirce introduced into 19th century American philosophical inquiry the ancient Greek understanding of continuity and continuousness — derived from “synechism.” We argue that Peirce’s understanding and use of synechism serves as the foundation for Veblen’s understanding and formation of the concept and principle of “cumulative causation.” This stands at the center of Veblen’s attempts to introduce evolutionary thinking into modern economics.