--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But when reason and the study of history…" description: "\"But when reason and the study of history began revealing the irrationality, the limitations, and the merely transitory nature of the capitalist order, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/paul-a-baran-27441_bourgeois_but-when-reason-and-the-study-of-history_3215933.jpg" --- # But when reason and the study of history began revealing… ![“But when reason and the study of history began revealing the irrationality, the limitations, and the merely transitory nature of the capitalist order, bourgeois ideology as a whole and with it bourgeois economics began abandoning both reason and history.” quote by Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/paul-a-baran-27441_bourgeois_but-when-reason-and-the-study-of-history_3215933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/paul-a-baran-27441_bourgeois_but-when-reason-and-the-study-of-history_3215933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd9/paul-a-baran-27441_bourgeois_but-when-reason-and-the-study-of-history_3215933.jpg) > “But when reason and the study of history began revealing the irrationality, the limitations, and the merely transitory nature of the capitalist order, bourgeois ideology as a whole and with it bourgeois economics began abandoning both reason and history.” [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critical analysis shows that capitalism’s foundations are historically contingent and irrational, leading its own ideology to reject rational critique. **In simple terms:** Capitalism’s ideas are based on shaky, temporary grounds. Key Takeaway Question the assumptions behind economic systems. Themes economics history ideology critique Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy analysis - activist organizing Key Concepts historical materialism irrationality transience Questions to Reflect On - How do we expose hidden assumptions in economic theory? - What alternatives can replace irrational market logic? A Different Perspective Capitalist narratives often adapt to preserve power, limiting true rational discourse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Irrationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrationality/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Study Of History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-of-history/) ## Related quotes > [For in the theoretical field bourgeois economics no longer engages in blithe and joyous fights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-hilferding/for-in-the-theoretical-field-bourgeois-economics-no-longer-engages-in/) Rudolf Hilferding > [“It seems only human nature to hang the label irrational on what we do not understand, since it is easy for us to assume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/it-seems-only-human-nature-to-hang-the-label-irrational-on-what-we-do/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [The economic class struggle is a struggle against inessanlty intensified exploitation: not only against the brutal material form of exploitation, capitalism's tendency to reduce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-althusser/the-economic-class-struggle-is-a-struggle-against-inessanlty/) [Louis Althusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-althusser/) > [“With the historical radar of Marx’s theories, on whose screen observers who have not swallowed the alcohol of the intoxicating bourgeois ideology cannot read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amadeo-bordiga/with-the-historical-radar-of-marx-s-theories-on-whose-screen/) [Amadeo Bordiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amadeo-bordiga/) > [The study of history empowers nations and individuals with an ability to avoid errors of the past and lay foundations for victories in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/the-study-of-history-empowers-nations-and-individuals-with-an-ability/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [“Politics is a story about the relationship between the past and the future; history is a story about the relationship between the past and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/politics-is-a-story-about-the-relationship-between-the-past-and-the/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-study-of-history-is-a-powerful-antidote-to-contemporary-arrogance/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“The study of history can be sobering and shocking, and morally troubling. One does not have to believe in original sin to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-study-of-history-can-be-sobering-and-shocking-and-morally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“fifty-six, his hour had come round. He was a paradox and would always remain one, a great tangle of calculated mannerisms and raw, uncalculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-atkinson/fifty-six-his-hour-had-come-round-he-was-a-paradox-and-would-always/) [Rick Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-atkinson/) > [“The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind-for-in/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [The study of history requires investigation, imagination, empathy, and respect. Reverence just doesn't enter into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/the-study-of-history-requires-investigation-imagination-empathy-and/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [“produced a race of heroes, so not less surely did the growth of luxury and absolutism, assisted by the narrow-mindedness of a dynasty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-morse-stephens/produced-a-race-of-heroes-so-not-less-surely-did-the-growth-of-luxury/) H. Morse Stephens > [One of the things I know from the study of history is that history surprises you. History is not written. It's not inevitable.The victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-things-i-know-from-the-study-of-history-is-that-history/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The study of History is the best medicine for a sick mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [The study of history and philosophy, accompanied by some acquaintance with art and literature, should be for lawyers and engineers as well as for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/the-study-of-history-and-philosophy-accompanied-by-some-acquaintance/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) ## More by Paul A. Baran > [The alarm must be sounded because it is the economic and social system of capitalism and imperialism that prevents the urgently needed full mobilization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/the-alarm-must-be-sounded-because-it-is-the-economic-and-social/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [Indeed, the "whole bourgeoisie" on whose behalf the government was acting as its "committee" was a composite of a vast multitude of businessmen appearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/indeed-the-whole-bourgeoisie-on-whose-behalf-the-government-was/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [The process of writing is a process of learning; and much has become clearer to me in the attempt to transform my original rough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/the-process-of-writing-is-a-process-of-learning-and-much-has-become/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [many seemingly independent businessmen or craftsman are more or less well paid retainers of larger corporations, such as the cobbler, operating a United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/many-seemingly-independent-businessmen-or-craftsman-are-more-or-less/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [As Hegel well knew, the ascent of reason has never followed a straight line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/as-hegel-well-knew-the-ascent-of-reason-has-never-followed-a-straight/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [That the means of imperialist policy overshadow almost entirely its original ends has tremendous implications.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/that-the-means-of-imperialist-policy-overshadow-almost-entirely-its/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [It has been estimated that even in the absence of net investment, the mere substitution of modern machinery for worn-out equipment in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/it-has-been-estimated-that-even-in-the-absence-of-net-investment-the/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [To contribute to the emergence of a society in which development will supplant stagnation, in which growth will take the place of decay, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/to-contribute-to-the-emergence-of-a-society-in-which-development-will/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [The principal impact of foreign enterprise on the development of the underdeveloped countries lies in hardening and strengthening the sway of merchant capitalism, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/the-principal-impact-of-foreign-enterprise-on-the-development-of-the/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [Schumpter's daring and dashing entrepreneur is now a legendary figure from the distant past - if not from the mythology of capitalism - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/schumpter-s-daring-and-dashing-entrepreneur-is-now-a-legendary-figure/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [If society has a technical need, that helps science forward more than ten universities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/if-society-has-a-technical-need-that-helps-science-forward-more-than/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [In fact, all the additional knowledge gained by an irrationally constituted society may but enlarge and enhance the powers of death and destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/in-fact-all-the-additional-knowledge-gained-by-an-irrationally/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [Whatever market for manufactured goods emerged in colonial and dependent countries did not become the "eternal market" of these countries. Thrown wide open by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/whatever-market-for-manufactured-goods-emerged-in-colonial-and/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [One would think that the record of already existing regulatory agencies is sufficiently eloquent in showing that it is Big Business that does the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/one-would-think-that-the-record-of-already-existing-regulatory/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) > [By elevating the dictum of the market to the role of the sole criterion of rationality and efficiency, economics denies even all "respectability" to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-baran/by-elevating-the-dictum-of-the-market-to-the-role-of-the-sole/) [Paul A. Baran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) [Explore all 20 Paul A. Baran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-baran/) ## More Bourgeois quotes > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [“Like symbolism, decadence puts forth the idea that the function of literature is to evoke impressions and 'correspondences', rather than to realistically depict the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asti-hustvedt/like-symbolism-decadence-puts-forth-the-idea-that-the-function-of/) [Asti Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asti-hustvedt/) > [The enmity of such a party towards Socialism does not mean that the members are only prejudiced against it because they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-radek/the-enmity-of-such-a-party-towards-socialism-does-not-mean-that-the/) [Karl Radek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-radek/) > [With almost no exceptions, art by men is much more expensive than art by women. Even great women artists, like Louise Bourgeois and Lee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/with-almost-no-exceptions-art-by-men-is-much-more-expensive-than-art/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Where there is no danger of overt action there is rarely any interference with freedom. That is why there has so often been amazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/where-there-is-no-danger-of-overt-action-there-is-rarely-any/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) Patrice Pavis > [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [I think of myself as being a bit of a wimp deep down - a bourgeois wimp - and I'm fighting that. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-mirren/i-think-of-myself-as-being-a-bit-of-a-wimp-deep-down-a-bourgeois-wimp/) [Helen Mirren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-mirren/) > [Conformity may not always reign in the prosperous bourgeois suburb, but it ultimately always governs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/conformity-may-not-always-reign-in-the-prosperous-bourgeois-suburb/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [We can say farewell to 10 years of bourgeois rule... now we have the opportunity to change Denmark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helle-thorning-schmidt/we-can-say-farewell-to-10-years-of-bourgeois-rule-now-we-have-the/) [Helle Thorning-Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helle-thorning-schmidt/) > [In a higher phase of communist society... only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/in-a-higher-phase-of-communist-society-only-then-can-the-narrow/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? 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We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahar-ben-jelloun/what-have-we-achieved-since-the-end-of-the-second-world-war-we-have/) [Tahar Ben Jelloun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahar-ben-jelloun/) [Browse all 304 Bourgeois quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bourgeois/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But when reason and the study of history began revealing the irrationality, the limitations, and the merely transitory nature of the capitalist order, bourgeois ideology as a whole and with it bourgeois economics began abandoning both reason and history.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul A. 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