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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Intricacies Of Agency: Rational Choice, Behavioral Economics, And Our Normative Commitments, Max Hendrix
Intricacies Of Agency: Rational Choice, Behavioral Economics, And Our Normative Commitments, Max Hendrix
Fenwick Scholar Program
This project undertakes a philosophical analysis of the intricacies of agency found in rational choice theory - the mainstream economic theory that agents are fundamentally rational and utilize their rationality to identify and pursue their self-interest. Recent experimental evidence within and outside of economics has cast doubt on the psychological accuracy and predictive prowess of the theory, laying the foundation to discuss the strengths and limitations of the theory as well as the impacts that this paradigm of agency has on our society today. I argue that rational choice theory struggles as a holistic conception of agency both from an …
Rationality Vs Reality: The Dissonance Between Economic Models And Experimental Data, Piotr Broda
Rationality Vs Reality: The Dissonance Between Economic Models And Experimental Data, Piotr Broda
College Honors Program
Rationality was not embedded in economic theory from its onset. In fact, the discipline started with a more holistic approach to human nature, incorporating notions of empathy and altruism. It was not until economics progressed and became more concerned with mathematical models and abstract theories that rationality entered the fray. Game theory, developed in the 1940s, established several axioms about human behavior that presented people as perfectly rational economic agents. It was not until behavioral researchers started investigating the question of rationality that the economic worldview was critically challenged. This research was the driving force in the development of behavioral …