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Rational Choice and the Limits of Theoretical Generality

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  • JAMES B. RULE

    (State University of New York at Stony Brook)

Abstract

Claims that rational choice analysis represents a general theory of social processes raise questions not only about rational choice but about the very idea of theoretical generality. Logically, a truly general theory ought to offer analytical means to all legitimate ends of social inquiry. This article holds, however, that no theory based on any single genre of social processes (rational calculation included) can serve the full range of descriptive or explanatory purposes properly addressed by sociologists. Rational choice thinking, like other claimants to the status of theoretical generality, misleads when its proponents doggedly insist on posing accounts invoking rational calculation to explain outcomes where other social processes are actually crucial. Acknowledgment of this fact can be expected to lead to the qualifications and amendments identified by Smelser as “theoretical degeneration .â€

Suggested Citation

  • James B. Rule, 1992. "Rational Choice and the Limits of Theoretical Generality," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(4), pages 451-469, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:4:y:1992:i:4:p:451-469
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463192004004007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Norman K. Denzin, 1990. "Reading Rational Choice Theory," Rationality and Society, , vol. 2(2), pages 172-189, April.
    2. Neil J. Smelser, 1992. "The Rational Choice Perspective," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(4), pages 381-410, October.
    3. James S. Coleman, 1989. "Rationality and Society," Rationality and Society, , vol. 1(1), pages 5-9, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Aaron Wildavsky, 1994. "Why Self-Interest Means Less Outside of a Social Context," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 6(2), pages 131-159, April.

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