Meanings of methodological individualism

Bibliographic Data

ID5774225
AuthorsG M Hodgson (0000-0002-5823-3996, University of Hertfordshire, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume14
Issue2
Pages211-226
Publication date2007-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Economic Methodology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-178X • E-ISSN: 1469-9427
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13501780701394094
OpenAlexW2126103724
LanguageEN
Citations received83
References cited46

Advocacy of 'methodological individualism' is widespread, especially among economists. However, the term is rarely defined with adequate precision and some crucial ambiguities are explored in this article. Among these is the commonplace ambivalence over whether explanations should be in terms of individuals alone, or in terms of individuals plus relations between them. It is shown that a great deal hinges on this subtle and often overlooked distinction in explanantia. In particular, explanations in terms of individuals alone have never, as yet, been achieved. Furthermore, the more feasible version of explanations in terms of individuals plus relations between them amounts to the introduction of social structure alongside individuals in the explanantia. Serious questions remain whether this version warrants the one-sided emphasis on individuals in the term 'methodological individualism'. JEL Classifications: B20, B40, B41 Keywords: methodological individualismsocial relationssocial structuresJoseph Schumpeter ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author warmly thanks Bruce Caldwell, John Davis, Alex Field, Ernesto Screpanti, Lars Udéhn, Viktor Vanberg and two anonymous referees for very helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Notes 1. Schumpeter's teacher, Max Weber (Citation1968) promoted a position that has since been described as methodological individualism in the first chapter of his Economy and Society, published after his death in 1920. 2. The reference here is to the JSTOR database, which covers economics and other social sciences and includes leading journals in economics. JSTOR user services and information on the journals contained can be contacted via [email protected] or [email protected]. 3. Popper's Economica essays on 'historicism' were eventually worked up into a book (Popper Citation1960). 4. Another student of Popper, Joseph Agassi (Citation1960, Citation1975), also made noted contributions to the debate. He invented and advocated the term 'institutional individualism' as a replacement, in recognition that institutional structures exist and affect individual choices, while only individuals have aims and responsibilities. But many proponents of 'methodological individualism' take a similar view. 5. This applies to both critics and exponents. Hayek (Citation1948) used the looser term 'individualism' to refer to both political and methodological doctrines. By the individual, advocates of methodological individualism refer to a singular human being. I follow the same usage of the term here, and I do not attempt to explore further its meaning. 6. Note that ontological presuppositions do not require any claims concerning explanation. Obversely, methodological individualism by many accounts does not necessitate ontological individualism, because many methodological individualists accept that the social world consists not only of individuals, but also of interactive relations between them, and that social entities such as institutions exist. 7. The term 'social' here is used in a broad sense, to encompass phenomena that are examined in economics, as well as other social sciences. In the social context all relations between individuals are causal and interactive, at least in the sense that in maintaining these relations with others, individuals are affected by their (partial) awareness of them and different actions may be enabled. Accordingly the term 'interactive relations' in the social context can be replaced by just 'relations'. 8. Udéhn (Citation2001), Caldwell (Citation2004) and Zwirn (Citationforthcoming) argue that Hayek - at least in his mature works - implicitly abandoned dominant contemporary interpretations of methodological individualism. 9. An explanans (plural, explanantia) is an element that purportedly helps to explain something else, the explanandum (plural, explananda). Apologies to those who already know their Latin. 10. See also Kincaid (Citation1997) for a further dissection of this and further ambiguities. 11. In apparently conciliatory statements, Sober (Citation1981) and Kincaid (Citation1997) argue that the validity or invalidity of methodological individualism is ultimately an empirical issue. If that is the case, then the evidence is against the narrow version. No significant explanation of social phenomena in terms of individuals alone has yet been advanced. In practice there is always a social and relational residual that is not reduced entirely to individual terms

Economics · Epistemology · Individualism · Methodological individualism · Political science · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Economic theories and models · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Philosophy