Abstract
Many types of `other-regarding' acts and beliefs cannotbe accounted for satisfactorilyas instances of sophisticated selfishness, altruism,team-reasoning, Kantian duty, kinselection etc. This paper argues in favour ofre-inventing the notion of solidarity as ananalytical category capable of shedding importantnew light on hitherto under-explainedaspects of human motivation. Unlike altruism andnatural sympathy (which turn theinterests of specific others into one's own), orteam-reasoning (which applies exclusivelyto members of some team), or Kantian duty (whichdemands universalisable principlesof action), the essence of solidarity lies in thehypothesis that people are capable ofresponding sympathetically to (or empathising with)a condition afflicting ‘others’,irrespectively of who those others are or whetherone cares for them personally. Andwhen that condition is a social artefact, we argue,solidarity turns radical.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Akerlof, G.: 1980, ‘A Theory of Social Custom of Which Unemployment May be One Consequence’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 95, 749-775.
Andreoni, J.: 1990, ‘Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving’, The Economic Journal 100, 464-477.
Arnsperger, C. and Y. Varoufakis: 1999, ‘Solidarity and Rational Contemplation’, mimeo, University of Sydney, Department of Economics, May 1999.
Bacharach, M.: 1999, ‘Interactive Team Reasoning: A Contribution to the Theory of Cooperation’, mimeo.
Becker, G.: 1974, ‘A Theory of Social Interactions’, Journal of Political Economy 82.
Brennan, G. and P. Pettit: 2000, ‘The Hidden Economy of Esteem’, Economics and Philosophy 16, 77-98.
Camerer, C. and H. Thaler: 1995, ‘Anomalies: Ultimatum, Dictators and Manners’, Journal of Economic Perspectives 9, 209-219.
Chapman, B.: 1998, ‘More Easily Done Than Said: Rules, Reasons, and Rational Social Choice’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 18, 293.
Frankfurt, H.: 1971, ‘Freedom of the Will and the Concept of Reason’, Journal of Philosophy 68, 5-20.
Gauthier, David: 1986, Morals by Agreement, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Geanakoplos, J., D. Pearce, and E. Stacchetti: 1989, ‘Psychological Games and Sequential Rationality’, Games and Economic Behavior 1, 60-79.
Hargreaves-Heap, S.: 1989, Rationality in Economics, Blackwell, Oxford.
Hargreaves-Heap, S. and Y. Varoufakis: 1995, Game Theory: A Critical Introduction, Routledge, London and New York.
Hargeaves-Heap, S. and Y. Varoufakis: 2002, ‘Some Experimental Evidence on the Evolution of Discrimination, Co-operation and Perceptions of Fairness’, The Economic Journal 112, 678-702.
Heiding, H. and H. Moulin: 1991, ‘The Solidarity Axiom in Parametric Surplus-Sharing Problems’, Journal of Mathematical Economics 20, 249-270.
Hoffman, E., K. McCabe, and V. Smith: 1996, ‘Social distance and Other-Regarding Behavior in Dictator Games’, American Economic Review 86, 653-660.
Hollis, M.: 1987, The Cunning of Reason, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hollis, M.: 1998, Trust Within Reason, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hollis, M. and R. Sugden: 1993, ‘Rationality in Action’, Mind 102, 1-35.
Hurley, S.: 1989, Natural Reasons, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Hume, D.: 1739, A Treatise of Human Nature, edited by D. G. C. Macnabb, Fontana/Collins, London, 1962.
Kant, I.: 1788, Critique of Practical Reason, translated and edited by L. W. Beck in Critique of Practical Reason and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press, 1949.
Margolis, H.: 1981, ‘A New Model of Rational Choice’, Ethics 91, 265-279.
McPherson, C. B.: 1973, Democratic Theory: Essays in Retrieval, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Midgley, M.: 1994, The Ethical Primate: Humans, Freedom and Morality, Routledge, London.
Nietzsche, F.: 1887, Genealogy of Morals, Doubleday, New York, 1956.
Nowak, A. S. and T. Radzik: 1994, ‘A Solidarity Value for n-Person Transferable Utility Games’, International Journal of Game Theory 23, 43-48.
Olson, M.: 1965, The Logic of Collective Action, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Rabin, M.: 1993, ‘Incorporating Fairness into Economics and Game Theory’, American Economic Review 83, 1281-2302.
Rawls, J.: 1971, A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Rouille D'Orfeuil, H.: 2002, Finances et Solidarité, La Découverte, Paris.
Schelling, T.: 1960, The Strategy of Conflict, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Selten, R. and A. Ockenfels: 1998, ‘An Experimental Solidarity Game’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 34, 517-539.
Sen, A.: 1970, ‘The Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal’, Journal of Political Economy 78, 152-157.
Sen, A.: 1974, ‘Choice, Orderings and Morality’, in S. Korner (ed.), Practical Reason, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
Sen, A.: 1977, ‘Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 6, 317-344.
Sen, A.: 1999, Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Sprumont, Y.: 1996, ‘Axiomatizing OrdinalWelfare EgalitarianismWhen Preferences May Vary’, Journal of Economic Theory 68, 77-100.
Smith, A.: 1759, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by D. Raphael and A. Macfie, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1976.
Sugden, R.: 1982, ‘On the Economics of Philanthropy’, The Economic Journal 92, 341-350.
Sugden, R.: 1986, The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare, Blackwell, Oxford.
Sugden, R.: 1993, ‘Thinking As a Team: Towards an Explanation of Non-Selfish Behavior’, Social Philosophy and Policy 10, 69-89.
Sugden, R.: 2000, ‘The Motivating Power of Expectations’, in J. Nida-Rümelin and W. Spohn (eds), Rationality, Rules and Structure, Kluwer, pp. 103-129.
Thomson, W.: 1995, ‘Population Monotonic Allocation Rules’, in W. Barnett et al. (eds), Social Choice, Welfare and Ethics: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium in Economic Theory and Econometrics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Van Huyck, J., R. Battalio, and R. Beil: 1990, ‘Tacit Coordination in Games, Strategic Uncertainty and Coordination Failures’, American Economic Review 80, 238-248.
Varoufakis, Y.: 1989, ‘Worker Solidarity and Strikes’, Australian Economic Papers, June, 76-92.
Varoufakis, Y.: 1990, ‘Solidarity in Conflict’, in Y. Varoufakis and D. Young (eds.), Conflict in Economics, Harvester Wheatsheaf and St Martin's Press, Hemel Hempstead and New York.
Varoufakis, Y.: 1991, Rational Conflict, Blackwell, Oxford.
Weibull, J.: 1995, Evolutionary Game Theory, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arnsperger, C., Varoufakis, Y. Toward a Theory of Solidarity. Erkenntnis 59, 157–188 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024630228818
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024630228818