Clarence Edwin Ayres
Encyclopedia
Clarence Edwin Ayres was the principal thinker in the Texas school of Institutional Economics
, during the middle of the 20th century.
, the son of a Baptist
minister. He graduated from Brown University
in 1912, and received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago
in 1917. He taught at Chicago from 1917 until 1920, and then moved on to Amherst College
, in Massachusetts, where he taught until 1923. Following a year at Reed College
in Portland, Oregon
, Ayres became associate editor of the New Republic
, where he worked until 1927. In that year, Ayres joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin
, where he remained until his retirement in 1968. One of Ayres students during Ayres time at Amherst College was Talcott Parsons
, the most famous of all American sociologists, who wrote two term-papers for Ayres's Philosophy III class. Another notable student of Ayres was C. Wright Mills
.
Ayres died on July 24, 1972 in Alamogordo, New Mexico
(Breit and Culbertson 1976: 3-22).
. From Veblen, he took over the notion of the struggle with the so-called capitalist society as a (Darwinist) struggle between technology and ceremonial structure. Veblen had proposed an analytical dichotomy between the "instrumental" and the "ceremonial" aspects of culture. Ayres substituted the term "institutional" for the term "ceremonial" (although he continued to use the term "ceremonial" for some purposes). From Dewey he took over the concept of "instrumentalism
," and particularly adopted as his own Dewey's theory of values, which he used to attack the notion of philosophical dualism. Ayres's attack on dualism and "higher values" was the key reason why his student Talcott Parsons
rejected his ideas.
Institutional economics
Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of the evolutionary process and the role of institutions in shaping economic behaviour. Its original focus lay in Thorstein Veblen's instinct-oriented dichotomy between technology on the one side and the "ceremonial" sphere of society on the...
, during the middle of the 20th century.
Life
Ayres was born in Lowell, MassachusettsLowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
, the son of a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister. He graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1912, and received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1917. He taught at Chicago from 1917 until 1920, and then moved on to Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, in Massachusetts, where he taught until 1923. Following a year at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Ayres became associate editor of the New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, where he worked until 1927. In that year, Ayres joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, where he remained until his retirement in 1968. One of Ayres students during Ayres time at Amherst College was Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
, the most famous of all American sociologists, who wrote two term-papers for Ayres's Philosophy III class. Another notable student of Ayres was C. Wright Mills
C. Wright Mills
Charles Wright Mills was an American sociologist. Mills is best remembered for his 1959 book The Sociological Imagination in which he lays out a view of the proper relationship between biography and history, theory and method in sociological scholarship...
.
Ayres died on July 24, 1972 in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
(Breit and Culbertson 1976: 3-22).
Ideas
Ayres is known as an "institutionalist economist" and best known for developing an economic philosophy stemming from the works of Thorstein Bunde Veblen and John DeweyJohn Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
. From Veblen, he took over the notion of the struggle with the so-called capitalist society as a (Darwinist) struggle between technology and ceremonial structure. Veblen had proposed an analytical dichotomy between the "instrumental" and the "ceremonial" aspects of culture. Ayres substituted the term "institutional" for the term "ceremonial" (although he continued to use the term "ceremonial" for some purposes). From Dewey he took over the concept of "instrumentalism
Instrumentalism
In the philosophy of science, instrumentalism is the view that a scientific theory is a useful instrument in understanding the world. A concept or theory should be evaluated by how effectively it explains and predicts phenomena, as opposed to how accurately it describes objective...
," and particularly adopted as his own Dewey's theory of values, which he used to attack the notion of philosophical dualism. Ayres's attack on dualism and "higher values" was the key reason why his student Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
rejected his ideas.
Books by Clarence E. Ayres
- 1917. The Nature of the Relationship between Ethics and Economics. Dissertation, University of Chicago.
- 1927. Science: The False Messiah. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
- 1929. Holier Than Thou: The Way of the Righteous. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
- 1929. Huxley. New York: W. W. Norton.
- 1938. The Problem of Economic Order. New York: Farrar and Rinehart.
- 1944. The Theory of Economic Progress. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
- 1946. The Divine Right of Capital. Boston: Houghton Miffin.
- 1952. The Industrial Economy: Its Technological Basis and Institutional Destiny. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- 1961. Toward a Reasonable Society: The Values of Industrial Civilization. Austin: University of Texas Press.
- 1962. The Theory of Economic Progress, 2nd ed. New York: Schocken Books.