IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ajecsc/v63y2004i5p1021-1055.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding Economic Man

Author

Listed:
  • G. R. Steele

Abstract

. The deficiencies of economic science are examined against its historical development: the utilitarian concentration upon individual choice conflates preferences and values and the hedonistic calculus is inoperable in the presence of incommensurability. In restricting explanations of behavioral patterns to changes in prices, incomes, and other “economic” variables, neoclassical analysis was destined to draw implausible conclusions. While the uniqueness of man rests in a highly developed self‐consciousness, his rationality need not imply conscious reason. Decisions and actions that are made in response to inputs from all of the sensory modalities are led by conventions and traditions that give structure to every response. Biological, psychological, social, and ethical constraints so limit purposeful action, that a complete economist (pace G. L. S. Shackle) is one who has mastered mathematics, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, history, geography, and political science.

Suggested Citation

  • G. R. Steele, 2004. "Understanding Economic Man," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(5), pages 1021-1055, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:63:y:2004:i:5:p:1021-1055
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2004.00333.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2004.00333.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2004.00333.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mill, John Stuart, 1874. "Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 2, number mill1874.
    2. Hirschman, Albert O., 1985. "Against Parsimony: Three Easy Ways of Complicating some Categories of Economic Discourse," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 7-21, April.
    3. Frank H. Knight, 1922. "Ethics and the Economic Interpretation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 36(3), pages 454-481.
    4. Brian J. Loasby, 1989. "The Mind and Method of the Economist," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 288.
    5. Knight, Frank H., 1922. "Ethics and the Economic Interpretation," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 36, pages 454-481, May.
    6. Piero V. Mini, 1994. "John Maynard Keynes," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-23606-0, March.
    7. Bruce J. Caldwell, 1988. "Hayek's Transformation," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 513-541, Winter.
    8. Stigler, George J & Becker, Gary S, 1977. "De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 76-90, March.
    9. Michel Zouboulakis, 1999. "Walter Bagehot on economic methodology: evolutionism and realisticnessl," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 79-94.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liana-Eugenia MESTER & Andreea-Florina FORA & Nicoleta Georgeta BUGNAR & Margit CSIPKES, 2021. "Factors That Influence The Behavior Of Young People In Making The Decision To Start A Business. Case Study," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(1), pages 129-139, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Malte F. Dold, 2018. "Back to Buchanan? Explorations of welfare and subjectivism in behavioral economics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 160-178, April.
    2. Grossmann, Volker, 2002. "Is it rational to internalize the personal norm that one should reciprocate?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 27-48, February.
    3. Atsebi, Jean-Marc Bédhat & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2019. "Relative Deprivation in Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 12719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Andrew Yuengert, 2006. "Model selection and multiple research goals: The case of rational addiction," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 77-96.
    5. Dasgupta, Utteeyo & Gangadharan, Lata & Maitra, Pushkar & Mani, Subha, 2017. "Searching for preference stability in a state dependent world," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 17-32.
    6. Jimena Hurtado, 2005. "The Utilitarian Foundations Of The Economic Approach To Human Behavior," Documentos CEDE 3633, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Dasgupta, Utteeyo & Gangadharan, Lata & Maitra, Pushkar & Mani, Subha, 2014. "De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum: An Experimental Investigation," MPRA Paper 58010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Matson, Erik W., 2021. "Satisfaction in action: Hume's endogenous theory of preferences and the virtues of commerce," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 849-860.
    9. Jack Hirshleifer, 1978. "Natural Economy Versus Political Economy," UCLA Economics Working Papers 114, UCLA Department of Economics.
    10. Luca Fiorito & Massimiliano Vatiero, 2021. "Frank H. Knight on social values in economic consumption: an archival note," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 126-141, January.
    11. Atsebi, Jean-Marc Bédhat & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2022. "Relative deprivation in Tanzania: Relative concerns and empathy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 389-408.
    12. Roger Bolton, 1992. "'Place Prosperity vs People Prosperity' Revisited: An Old Issue with a New Angle," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 29(2), pages 185-203, April.
    13. Ganzert, Christian & Burdick, Bernhard & Scherhorn, Gerhard, 2004. "Empathie, Verantwortlichkeit, Gemeinwohl: Versuch über die Selbstbehauptungskräfte der Region. Ergebnisse eines Praxisforschungsprojekts zur Vermarktung regionaler Lebensmittel," Wuppertal Papers 142, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
    14. Åsbjørn Melkevik, 2019. "A Theory of Business Eunomics: The Means–Ends Relation in Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 293-305, November.
    15. Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada, 2005. "Income and well-being: an empirical analysis of the comparison income effect," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 997-1019, June.
    16. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2013. "Happiness economics," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 35-60, March.
    17. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2002. "Income and Well-being," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-019/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    18. Eriksson, Ralf, 2005. "On the ethics of environmental economics as seen from textbooks," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 421-435, March.
    19. Ramesh Chandra, 2022. "Was Allyn Young a Marshallian?," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 258-279, June.
    20. Levy, David M. & Peart, Sandra J., 2009. "Sympathy, evolution, and The Economist," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 29-36, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:63:y:2004:i:5:p:1021-1055. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0002-9246 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.