The Hobbesian Individual in Prehistory: Joseph Pluta vs. Thorstein Veblen A Comment

摘要

In the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Economic Issues, Joseph Pluta challenges Thorstein Veblen's characterization of early society as "peaceable savagery." "[T]he accuracy of Veblen's claim that very early humans did not exhibit bellicose tendencies," he writes, "will be directly examined and ultimately challenged. Specifically, numerous studies since Veblen's day provide strong cases, including logical arguments and indisputable archaeological proof, that the human race has always exhibited a propensity toward violence" (Pluta 2012, 210, emphasis in original).