RT Article
T1 Methodological altruism as an alternative foundation for individual optimization
JF Ethical theory and moral practice
VO 3
IS 2
SP 115
OP 136
A1 Arnsperger, Christian
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2000
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785691678
AB Can economics, which is based on the notion of individual optimization, really model individuals who have a sense of exteriority? This question, derived both from Marcel Mauss's sociological analysis of the social norm of gift-giving and from Emmanuel Levinas's phenomenological analysis of the idea of 'otherness,' leads to the problem of whether it is possible to model altruism with the tool of optimization. By investigating the ways in which economic theory can address this challenge, and by introducing a postulate of methodological altruism following Levinas's theory of the constitution of subjectivity through otherness, this paper uncovers an alternative foundation for the very notion of optimizing calculation - no longer as a self-centered initiative, but rather as an other-centered response. This makes it possible to clarify the implicit content of usual economic individualism, and to see on the basis of which ethical arguments the economic method of optimization may be upheld. The paper studies the consequences of this renewed foundation of optimization for the organization of a fair and efficient interaction between altruists.
K1 Rational Choice Theory
K1 philosophy of economics
K1 Methodological Individualism
K1 Mauss
K1 Levinas
K1 Gift-giving
K1 Altruism
DO 10.1023/A:1009937717498