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In the HES Posting discussion of 'animal spirits' the term is seen as a scientific concept
which refers specifically to physiology. However, it was apparently also used in daily
parlance and can be found in a number of novels, such as Fielding's Tom Jones: "Jones had
naturally violent animal spirits"(p. 235 in the Penguin Classics edition) and Austen's
Pride and Prejudice: "She had high animal spirits"(p. 99 in the Penguin Classics edition).
'Animal spirits' was used here in the third meaning given in the Oxford English
Dictionary, nl.: nervous vivacity, natural gaiety of disposition, 'healthy animalism'.
Would it be far-fetched to assume that for Keynes is was simply a well-known literary
expression without necessarily having some profound philosophical connotation?
 
Hans Visser  
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 
 
 
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