AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE OF PEACE AND THE TERMS OF ITS PERPETUATION

New York, Macmillan, 1917. Cloth. 1st edition. Original green publisher's cloth. 8vo, pagination: iii-xiii, [1 blank], [2], 367, [1 blank], [6, advertisements]. Here Veblen considers the situations in Germany and England during the First World War and projects the economic consequences of plenty in peacetime, which he frames as the rise of the middle-class 'gentleman', based on a model of Victorian English, peacetime gentlemanliness. This envisages a class-based, competitive system, which cannot be indefinitely sustained since it is limited, while at the same time being supported, paradoxically, by 'pecuniary superstitions' such as the belief in property ownership. Veblen thus foreshadows the caustic pessimism of his Absentee ownership (1923), which saw a return to the oppressive systems of past eras. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that, with this work, "Veblen acquired an international following. He maintained that modern wars were caused mainly by the competitive demands of national business interests and that an enduring peace could be had only at the expense of "the rights of ownership, and of the price system in which these rights take effect." This is Michael Walzer's copy with his ownership signature, "M & J [Judy] Walzer July 1978 Hyannis." The Institute for Advanced Study, where Walzer is Emeritus, notes that "One of America's foremost political thinkers, Michael Walzer has written about a wide variety of topics in political theory and moral philosophy, including political obligation, just and unjust war, nationalism and ethnicity, economic justice, and the welfare state. He has played a critical role in the revival of a practical, issue-focused ethics and in the development of a pluralist approach to political and moral life. Walzer's books include Just and Unjust Wars (1977), Spheres of Justice (1983), On Toleration (1997), Arguing About War (2004), and The Paradox of Liberation (2015); he served as co-editor of the political journal Dissent for more than three decades, retiring in 2014. Currently, he is working on issues having to do with international justice and the connection of religion and politics, and also on a collaborative project focused on the history of Jewish political thought." Card pocket removed from rear pastedown, faint number at base of spine, some light foxing as expected. Good+ Condition, a nice association copy with a leading international thinker on war and peace (AC-6-8).