Ορθολογικοί ηλίθιοι: μια κριτική στα συμπεριφορικά θεμέλια της οικονομικής θεωρίας

Abstract

Sen clarifies, almost from the beginning, that his primary concern is not with the relation of postulated, traditional, economic models to the real economic world, but with the accuracy of answers to well-defined questions posed with pre-selected assumptions. One of those assumptions reflects a particular ‘concept of man’. The conception of man in traditional as well as in the welfare economic models tends to be that of a self-seeking egoist; an animal or a machine which is always seeking maximizing its own utility, except through inconsistency. Sen indicates that this approach of ‘definitional egoism’ sometimes goes under the name of rational choice, and it involves nothing other than internal consistency. The afore-mentioned concept of man in terms of a definitional egoism implies in turn an arbitrarily narrow definition of rationality. Having established the necessity of accepting ‘commitment’ in our reasoning, Sen shows that admitting such kind of behavior has far- reaching consequences on the nature of many economic models. Hence, these models either have to be reformulated or they will continue to be based upon the dominant image of the ‘rational fool’. Our authorized translation is based on the initial publication of Sen’s article in the Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1977.