Thorstein Veblen 1

TO EXPLAIN the characteristic animus for which 1 Hume stands, on grounds that might appeal to Hume, we should have to inquire into the peculiar circumstances— ultimately material circumstances—that have gone to shape the habitual view of things within the British community.” ² Thus Thorstein Veblen formulates the problem of accounting for the preconceptions of another “placid unbeliever.”