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Individualism in Modern Thought: From Adam Smith to Hayek PDF

243 Pages·1998·9.62 MB·English
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INDIVIDUALISM IN MODERN THOUGHT The usage of 'collective' concepts such as Society, State, Church and Class is essential to both the social sciences and to everyday discourse. But what in reality corresponds to such concepts? Proponents of methodological individu alism argue that it is individual human action, with its unintentional and unpredictable consequences, which shapes any collective concept. Individualism in Modern Thought is a comprehensive survey of methodological individualism in social, political and economic thought from the Enlightenment to the 20th century. Exploring the works of such figures as de Mandeville, Smith, Marx, Spencer, Durkheim, Menger, Simmel, Weber, Mises, Hayek, Popper and Parsons, this study underlines the contrasts between methodological collectivism and methodological individualism. The detailed analysis offered here also reveals the theoretical presuppositions behind the collectivist and individualist traditions and the practical conse quences of their applications. Infantino concludes in favour of individualism. This work touches upon issues in social and political theory, intellectual history, political philosophy, political economy and sociological theory. The relationship between the individual and the constitution of society is of key interest to Infantino, who draws upon the ideas of Hayek to develop his own unique approach to the issues examined. Lorenzo Infantino is Professor of Sociology at Libera Universita Internazionale degli Studi Sociali, Rome. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT 2 HAYEK AND AFTER Hayekian liberalism as a research programme Jeremy Shearmur 2 CONFLICTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE Edited by Anton van Harskamp 3 POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ANDRE GORZ Adrian Little 4 CORRUPTION, CAPITALISM AND DEMOCRACY John Girting 5 FREEDOM AND CULTURE IN WESTERN SOCIETY Hans Blokland 6 FREEDOM IN ECONOMICS New perspectives in normative analysis Edited by Jean-Francois Laslier, Marc Fleurbaey, Nicolas Gravel and Alain Trannoy 7 AGAINST POLITICS On government, and order Anthony deJasay 8 MAX WEBER AND MICHEL FOUCAULT Parallel life works Arpad Szakolczai 9 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND HUMAN RIGHTS G.B. Madison 10 ON DURKHEIM'S ELEMENTARY FORMS Edited by W Pickering, W Watts Miller and N J. Allen 11 CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM The supreme importance of each human being Tibor R. Machan 12 THE AGE OF REASONS Quixotism, sentimentalism and political economy in eighteenth-century Britain Wendy Motooka 13 FORGET LYOTARD? Edited by Chris Rojek and Bryan S. Turner 14 INDIVIDUALISM IN MODERN THOUGHT From Adam Smith to Hayek Lorenzo Infantino 15 PROPERTY AND POWER IN SOCIAL THEORY A study in intellectual rivalry Dick Pels 16 WITTGENSTEIN AND THE IDEA OF A CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORY Giddens, Haberman and Bhaskar Nigel Pleasants INDIVIDUALISM IN MODERN THOUGHT From Adam Smith to Hayek Lorenzo Infantino London and New York First published 1998 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016 Transferred to Digital Printing 2006 © 1998 Lorenzo Infantino Typeset in Garamond by Routledge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. BritiJh Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congrm Cataloguing in Publication Data Infantino, Lorenzo, 1948- [Ordine senza piano. English] Individualism in modern thought: from Adam Smith to Hayek / Lorenzo Infantino. (Routledge studies in social and political thought: 14) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Individualism-History. I. Title. II. Series. HM136.146513 1998 302.5'4'09-dc21 97-52179 CIP ISBN 0-415-18524-6 TO MY PARENTS This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Preface x 1 Introduction 1 0/ The 'abuse reason' 1 0/ Political economy and the discovery unintentional order 2 0/ The birth sociology and intentional order 4 The 'revolt against individualism' 5 The alliance against the open society 6 2 Bernard de Mandeville and Adam Smith: the theory of the 'great society' 9 Man, a social animal 9 0/ Needs and the division labour 11 Can a 'commercial society' survive? 13 0/ 0/ The advantage Ego and the advantage the Other: the 'invisible hand' 15 Ateleological development 19 Mandeville: the service rendered by others is always a means 21 Smith: the service rendered by others is always a means (on the principle of'sympathy') 24 'The Adam Smith problem' 27 The consistency o/Smith's theory 30 Some conclusions 31 3 Which method? A question about the philosophy of the social sciences 41 Unintentional order and the individualistic method 41 The 'individualistic' method makes clear the social link 43 0/ The individualistic method and the errors psychologism 45 VB CONTENTS Auguste Comte: the collectivistic method and the impossibility of the 'great society' 48 Karl Marx: between politics and science 52 4 Durkheim and the application of the collectivistic method 57 Durkheim versus the 'great society' 57 The state as independent variable 60 Durkheim and political economy 64 Is society a 'sui generis' reality? 67 Society is not a 'sui generis' reality 71 Between positivism and idealism 77 5 Is an 'individualistic' reading of Durkheim possible? 83 The elements that justify an 'individualistic' reading of Durkheim 83 Durkheim under the 'individualistic' lens 85 Is it possible to reconcile Durkheim and Spencer? 90 Is it possible to reconcile Durkheim and Simmel? 95 6 Economists and sociologists compared: Carl Menger and Georg Simmel, Ludwig von Mises and Max Weber 100 Carl Menger: methodological individualism and 'marginalistic revolution' 100 The 'convergences' between Carl Menger and Georg Simmel 106 Ludwig von Mises: the theory of action in the development of Austrian marginalism 114 The 'convergences' between Max Weber and Ludwig von Mises 118 Mises's criticism of Weber's quadripartition of meaningful action 125 7 The early Parsons: between sociology and economics 131 The 'death' of Spencer and the expulsion ofSimmel 131 The misunderstanding of the rational construction of preferences 13 4 In search of the 'voluntaristic-creative' element 140 The problem of the 'common system of ultimate ends' 146 The 'sociologistic theorem' 151 The missing solution 157 Economic cost and social obligation 163 Vill CONTENTS 8 Conclusions 166 'Let us learn to be selves' 166 Sociology and economics 169 The task of the social sciences 172 Notes 174 References 210 Index 222 IX

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This book is a comprehensive survey of methodological individualism in social, political and economic thought from the Enlightenment to the 20th century. Exploring the works of such figures as de Mandeville, Smith, Marx, Spencer, Durkheim, Simmel, Weber, Hayek, Popper and Parsons, this study underli
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