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ON SIMON NELSON PATTEN’S PROGRESSIVISM: A NOTE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2021

Luca Fiorito  and
Massimiliano Vatiero
Luca Fiorito*
Affiliation:
Luca Fiorito: University of Palermo
Massimiliano Vatiero
Affiliation:
Massimiliano Vatiero: University of Trento and Università della Svizzera italiana.
*
Address for correspondence: [email protected].
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Abstract

This article is an attempt to offer an assessment of the main coordinates of Simon Nelson Patten’s views on democracy and biological determinism. This will allow us to better delineate the differences—as well as the affinities—between Patten and the core of progressives discussed by Thomas C. Leonard in a series of path-breaking contributions, culminating in his Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era. It is our contention that even within the persisting intricacies, ambiguities, and contradictions of Patten’s expository style, it is possible to trace a shift in some aspects of his ideas—a gradual evolution that makes his peculiar brand of progressivism different from that of his most “illiberal” counterparts.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 526 - 547
Copyright
© The History of Economics Society, 2021

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Footnotes

We wish to thank David Levy, Malcolm Rutherford, Thomas C. Leonard, and two unknown referees for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The usual disclaimers apply.

References

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