Economics and the Problem of Human Nature

This chapter describes that the controversy in economic anthropology has revolved around the problem of defining "economic" behavior and "the economy" as an objective set of activities and objects. It explores the debates and disagreements to expose the most basic "bedrock" positions. The chapter suggests that neither the formalist-substantivist debate nor the later theoretical trends in the discipline have generally asked the right questions. It shows a view of each scholar and approach, but sometimes it plays the devil&s;s advocate. The point is to cut through the incidental or superfluous material, to reject the unproductive and fruitless issues, in order to find the gold that is often hidden within. In the process it will become evident that economic anthropology has had some serious problems and misconceptions, but our goal is not simply to expose these problems and bury economic anthropology as a dead discipline.

Economics · Neoclassical economics · Economic Theory and Institutions