How Homo economicus lost her mind and how we can revive her

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter DeScioli
Keyword(s):  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Target Article ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractThe target article by Boyer & Petersen (B&P) contributes a vital message: that people have folk economic theories that shape their thoughts and behavior in the marketplace. This message is all the more important because, in the history of economic thought, Homo economicus was increasingly stripped of mental capacities. Intuitive theories can help restore the mind of Homo economicus.

scholarly journals A Study of History of Economic Thought and it’s Relevance

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Anand Shanker Singh
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
History Of

There are many possible approaches to organizing economic activities of individuals living in social systems. Whatever method is chosen, it is necessary to coordinate or integrate the behavior of individual members of the society. The history of economic thought is a study of the more important attempts to analyze, describe and explain the relationships in actual or idealized economic systems. Knowledge of alternative explanations of economic processes provides a basis for evaluating the performance of industrial economies. It also provides a basis for critically evaluating economic theories and models that purport to describe modern industrial economies

scholarly journals Surveying Financial Decisions? From Homo Economicus to Historical Specificity and J.S. Mill’s Cultural–Institutional Individualism

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Manolis Manioudis ◽  
Dimitra Giardoglou
Keyword(s):  
Human Action ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Human Decision ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Specificity

The aim of this paper is to evidence that non-economic factors, such as culture, emotions and ethics, can be seen as an important force in influencing human economic behavior and human action. This is conducted by putting the homo economicus notion into the perspective of the history of economic thought and, more specifically, of John Stuart Mill. More specifically, Mill’s institutional individualism, as is presented in his System of Logic (1843), and his relativity of economic doctrines construction, as is included in his Principles of Political Economy (1848), are synoptically delineated. Through Mill’s analysis, it is supported that cultural differences between different states of societies are determinant in understanding different behaviors. The paper concludes that Mill’s historical specificity and his more pluralistic version of cultural–institutional methodological individualism are more compatible in understanding human decision making.

scholarly journals The Moral and Political Dimension of Economics The Fact-Value Dichotomy

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasco Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Positive Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
Economic Analyses

Since the neoclassical school, the separation between facts and values, is and ought, positive and normative, has become a concern in conventional economic analyses. Economics should focus on facts, and present general principles, leaving the choice of various technical alternatives to policy makers. This article addresses the following questions: can economics, seen as a positive science, be separated from the political dimension? Is it possible to separate facts from values or are they necessarily intertwined?After showing how the separation between economics and moral philosophy unfolded throughout the history of economic thought, the article analyses the factvalue dichotomy discussion and concludes that facts and values are necessarily intertwined. Then, the article shows that the premises and theories of conventional economic theories contain hidden values, despite being presented as universal truths on which policies are based, and thus fail to discuss the various perspectives of the problems.Reviving a tradition commenced by Aristotle, the article concludes by arguing that economics is necessarily moral and political. However, the acknowledgement of the normative nature of economics cannot compromise the pursuit of objectivity.

scholarly journals From Rational to Spiritual in the Economic Thought

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165
Author(s):  
Elina Benea-Popuşoi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Thought ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Business Courses ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Informational Constraint ◽  
Rational Mind ◽  
Homo Sovieticus

AbstractThe paper examines the evolution in the patterns of human economic behavior across the history of economic thought. The author considers the development of the Homo Economicus concept in the view of the scarcity problem in economics and the Homo Socialis concept, with its extreme manifestation - Homo Sovieticus, attested in the former socialist countries of the world. In this context, the author examines the phenomenon of societal constraint on personality. Another prototype of economic behavior - Homo Informaticus and, its boundary manifestation - Homo Interneticus are discussed in the view of the informational constraint phenomenon. The author introduces the Homo Creativus ‘character’, whose behavior is characterized by the attempt to overcome the rational mind constraint. The paper considers the need to adopt the Homo Spiritualis paradigm within the frame of economic thought - a need already highlighted by notorious scholars. According to the writer the urge to develop this paradigm is implicitly determined by the spreading of the underground economy, the globalization and virtualization of the human activity, their impact on human personality. In her approach of the Homo Spiritualis concept the author supports the view that spirituality should not be confused with religion, although the two are related. In practical terms the issue of incorporating spirituality into economics and business courses is approached.

Essays of a “comparatively progressive” economist (On the 150th birth anniversary of Vladimir Geleznoff)

2019 ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
Viktor A. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Working Ability ◽  
Intellectual Inquiry ◽  
History Of

Deep comprehension of the advanced economic theory, the talent of lecturer enforced by the outstanding working ability forwarded Vladimir Geleznoff scarcely at the end of his thirties to prepare the publication of “The essays of the political economy” (1898). The subsequent publishing success (8 editions in Russia, the 1918­-year edition in Germany) sufficiently demonstrates that Geleznoff well succeded in meeting the intellectual inquiry of the cross­road epoch of the Russian history and by that taking the worthful place in the history of economic thought in Russia. Being an acknowledged historian of science V. Geleznoff was the first and up to now one of the few to demonstrate the worldwide community of economists the theoretically saturated view of Russian economic thought in its most fruitful period (end of XIX — first quarter of XX century).

Thorstein Veblen: A View from the 21st Century

2007 ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nureev
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Thorstein Veblen ◽  
History Of

The article provides a description of T. Veblen’s views, showing his place in the history of economic thought. The author analyzes the context of Veblen’s life and work and considers different aspects of his theoretical legacy. Special attention is paid to the discussion of Veblen’s role in the development of institutional economics. The author describes in detail the main trends in the development of institutionalism after Veblen.

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