Methodological individualism

In the social sciences, methodological individualism is a framework that describes social phenomena as a consequence of subjective personal motivations by individual actors. Class or group dynamics, which operate on systemic explanations, are deemed illusory, and, thus, rejected or de-prioritized. With its bottom-up micro-level approach, methodological individualism is often contrasted with methodological holism,^[1] a top-down macro-level approach, and methodological pluralism.^[2]

History within the Social Sciences

This framework was introduced as a foundational assumption within the social sciences by Max Weber, and discussed in his book Economy and Society.^[3] Within later schools of economic thought, such as the Austrian School, strict adherence to methodological individualism is considered a necessary starting principle. It draws heavily upon assumptions of neoclassical economics, where social behavior is explained in terms of rational actors whose choices are constrained by prices and incomes, and where individuals' subjective preferences are treated as a given.^[4]

Criticisms

Economist Mark Blaug has criticized over-reliance on methodological individualism in economics, saying that "it is helpful to note what methodological individualism strictly interpreted [...] would imply for economics. In effect, it would rule out all macroeconomic propositions that cannot be reduced to microeconomic ones [...] this amounts to saying goodbye to almost the whole of received macroeconomics. There must be something wrong with a methodological principle that has such devastating implications".^[5]

Similarly, the economist Alan Kirman has critiqued general equilibrium theory and modern economics for its "fundamentally individualistic approach to constructing economic models", and showed that an individualist competitive equilibrium is not necessarily stable or unique. However, stability and uniqueness can be achieved if aggregate variables are added, and as a result he argued "the idea that we should start at the level of the isolated individual is one which we may well have to abandon".^[6]

See also

• Methodological holism
• Methodological pluralism
• Austrian School
• Praxeology

References

Further reading

• Agassi, Joseph. "Methodological individualism." The British journal of sociology 11.3 (1960): 244–270.
• Kenneth J. Arrow (1994), "Methodological Individualism and Social Knowledge," American Economic Review, 84(2), pp. 1–9.
• Kaushik Basu (2008), "Methodological Individualism", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, New York : Palgrave Macmillan ISBN:978-0-333-78676-5 Abstract.
• Brian Epstein (2009), "Ontological Individualism Reconsidered", Synthese 166(1), pp. 187–213.
• Friedrich A. Hayek (1948), Individualism and Economic Order. University of Chicago Press. ISBN:0-226-32093-6
• Geoffrey Hodgson, (2007) "Meanings of Methodological Individualism", Journal of Economic Methodology 14(2), June, pp. 211–226.
• Harold Kincaid (2008), "Individualism versus Holism," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, New York: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN:978-0-333-78676-5 Abstract.
• Steven Lukes (1968), "Methodological Individualism Reconsidered", British Journal of Sociology 19, pp. 119–29.
• Ludwig von Mises, "The Principle of Methodological Individualism", chapt. 2 in Human Action ISBN:9780865976313 Eprint.
• Joseph Schumpeter (1909), "On the Concept of Social Value", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 23(2), February, pp. 213–32.
• Lars Udéhn (2002), "The Changing Face of Methodological Individualism", Annual Review of Sociology, 28, pp. 479–507.

External links

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