1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910458971403321

Autore

Lagueux Maurice

Titolo

Rationality and explanation in economics / / Maurice Lagueux

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2010

ISBN

1-135-15033-8

1-135-15034-6

1-282-57017-X

9786612570179

0-203-85647-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (296 p.)

Collana

Routledge frontiers of political economy  Rationality and explanation in economics

Disciplina

330.1

339

Soggetti

Rational expectations (Economic theory)

Reason - Economic aspects

Economics - History

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Book Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; Preface and acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: Rationality in the history of economic thought; 1 Rationality in economics before the Second World War; 2 The hardly consistent story of rationality-consistency; Part II: Objections to the notion of minimal rationality; 3 Can methodological individualism survive?; 4 Is still some room left for irrationality?; 5 Minimal and maximal rationality: Loosely defined concepts?; Part III: But is rationality really necessary in economics?; 6 Why unrealism of assumptions remains a predicament

7 Explaining in the absence of rationalityPart IV: Regarding economic explanations; 8 Rationality and natural selection in economics; 9 Theories of explanation applied to economics; Epilogue; Notes; References; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Economical questions indisputably occupy a central place in everyday



life. In order to clarify these questions, people generally turn to those who are familiar with economics. In answering such legitimate questions, economists propose explanations which rest on a few principles among which the rationality principle is by far the most fundamental. This principle assumes that people are rational, but what is meant by this has to be specified.Rationality and Explanation in Economics claims that only a minimal kind of rationality is required to 'animate' economic explanat