Symposium on explanations and social ontology 1: Rational choice theory and social explanation
Economics and Philosophy 18 (2):211-234 (2002)
| Abstract | In the Common Mind, Pettit argues that rational choice theory cannot provide genuine causal accounts of action. A genuine causal explanation of intentional action must track how people actually deliberate to arrive at action. And, deliberation is necessarily enculturated or situated “. . . we take human agents to reason their way to action, using the concepts that are available to them in the currency of their culture” (p. 220). When deciding how to act, “. . . people find their way to action in response to properties that they register in the options before them, properties that are valued in common with others and that can be invoked to provide at least some justification of their choices” (p. 272). That people seek to make justified decisions implies that, at times, their own goals or objectives will be modified in deliberation. Something that rational choice theory cannot allow. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,701 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesPreston T. King (ed.) (2003). Trusting in Reason: Martin Hollis and the Philosophy of Social Action. Frank Cass.
Peter K. Mcinerney (2006). Pollock on Rational Choice and Trying. Philosophical Studies 129 (2):253 - 261.
Milan Zafirovski (2000). The Rational Choice Generalization of Neoclassical Economics Reconsidered: Any Theoretical Legitimation for Economic Imperialism? Sociological Theory 18 (3):448-471.
D. Lynn Holt (1988). Teleological Explanation: A Species of Causal Explanation. Philosophical Psychology 1 (3):313-325.
John Ferejohn & Debra Satz (1995). Unification, Universalism, and Rational Choice Theory. Critical Review 9 (1-2):71-84.
Dennis Chong (1995). Rational Choice Theory's Mysterious Rivals. Critical Review 9 (1-2):37-57.
Fernando Aguiar & Andrés de Francisco (2009). Rational Choice, Social Identity, and Beliefs About Oneself. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 39 (4):547-571.
Uskali Mäki (2002). Symposium on Explanations and Social Ontology 2: Explanatory Ecumenism and Economics Imperialism. Economics and Philosophy 18 (2):235-257.
Ross Poole (1992). Living with Reason. Inquiry 35 (2):199 – 217.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads70 ( #12,319 of 549,124 )Recent downloads (6 months)5 ( #15,205 of 549,124 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
