Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:41:41.233Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Useful Fiction or Miracle Maker: The Competing Epistemological Foundations of Rational Choice Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2003

PAUL K. MacDONALD
PAUL K. MacDONALD
Affiliation:
Columbia University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Rational choice theorists have not clearly articulated their epistemological positions, and for this reason, their arguments in favor of rational choice theory are inconsistent, contradictory, and unpersuasive. To remedy this problem, I describe how two of the main positions in the philosophy of science, instrumentalist-empiricism and scientific-realism, act as competing epistemological foundations for rational choice theory. I illustrate how these philosophical perspectives help political scientists (1) understand what is at stake in the theoretical debates surrounding the rationality assumption, self-interest, and methodological individualism, (2) identify inconsistencies in the epistemological positions adopted by rational choice theorists, and (3) assess the feasibility and desirability of a universal theory based on the rationality assumption.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 97 , Issue 4 , November 2003 , pp. 551 - 565
Copyright
© 2003 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen Christopher and Duncan Snidal 1989 Rational Deterrence Theory and Comparative Case Studies. World Politics 41: 143–69.Google Scholar
Alchian Armen A. 1950 Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory. Journal of Political Economy 58: 211–21.Google Scholar
Alexander Jeffrey 1987 The Micro–Macro Link. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Archer Margaret 1998 The Logic of Scientific Discovery. In Critical Realism: Essential Readings. ed. M. Archer. New York: Routledge.
Barnes Trevor. 1996 Logics of Dislocation: Models, Metaphors, and Meanings of Economic Space. New York: Guilford Press.
Bates Robert Figueiredo Rui de and Barry Weingast. 1998 The Politics of Interpretation: Rationality, Culture, and Tradition. Politics and Society 26: 603–42.Google Scholar
Becker Gary S. 1962 Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory. Journal of Political Economy 70: 1–13.Google Scholar
Becker Gary S. 1976 The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bernstein Richard 1976 The Restructuring of Social and Political Theory. New York: Harcourt Press.
Bhaskar Roy 1997 A Realist Theory of Science. New York: Verso.
Bhaskar Roy 1989 The Possibility of Naturalism. New York: Verso.
Boudon Raymond 1989 The ‘Cognitivist Model’. Rationality and Society 8: 123–50.Google Scholar
Boudon Raymond 1998 Limitations of Rational Choice Theory. American Journal of Sociology 104: 817–28.Google Scholar
Bourdieu Pierre 1990 The Logic of Practice. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.
Brown James R. 1982 The Miracle of Science. Philosophical Quarterly 32: 232–44.Google Scholar
Brown M. Cote O. Lynn-Jones S. and Miller S. eds. 2000 Rational Choice and Security Studies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bueno de Mesquita Bruce 1985 Towards a Scientific Understanding of International Conflict. International Studies Quarterly 29: 121–36.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita Bruce 1996 The Benefits of a Social-Scientific Approach to Studying International Affairs. In Explaining International Relations Since 1945. ed. N. Woods New York: Oxford University Press.
Bueno de Mesquita B. and J. Morrow 1999 Sorting through the Wealth of Notions. International Security 24: 56 73.Google Scholar
Cartwright Nancy 1991 The Reality of Causes in a World of Instrumental Laws. In The Philosophy of Science. ed. R. Boyd P. Gasper and J. D. Trout Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chalmers A. F. 1994 What Is This Thing Called Science? Indianapolis: Hackett.
Chong Dennis 1996 Rational Choice Theory's Mysterious Rivals. In The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered. ed. Jeffrey Friedman New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Coleman James S. 1986 Social Theory, Social Research and a Theory of Action. American Journal of Sociology 91: 1309–35.Google Scholar
Coleman James S. 1987 Microfoundations and Macrosocial Behavior. In The Macro-Micro Link. ed. J. Alexander et al Berkeley: University of California Press.
Coleman James S. 1989 Introduction. Rationality and Society 1: 5 9.Google Scholar
Coleman James S. 1990 Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Diermeier Daniel 1996 Rational Choice and the Role of Theory in Political Science. In The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered. ed. Jeffrey Friedman New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Duhem Pierre 1954 The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Elster Jon. 1979 Ulysses and the Sirens: Studies in Rationality and Irrationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Elster Jon 1983 Sour Grapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Elster Jon 1986 Introduction. In Rational Choice. ed. Jon Elster New York: New York University Press.
Elster Jon. 1989 Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Farmer Mary K. 1992 Rational Action in Economic and Social Theory: Some Misunderstandings. European Journal of Sociology 23: 179–97.Google Scholar
Ferejohn J. D. Satz 1996 Unification, Universalism, and Rational Choice Theory. In The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered. ed. Jeffrey Friedman New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Ferejohn John. 1991 Rationality and Interpretation. In The Economic Approach to Politics, ed. Kristen Monroe New York: Harper Collins.
Fiorina Morris P. 1996 Rational Choice, Empirical Contributions and the Scientific Enterprise. In The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered. ed. Jeffrey Friedman New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Frank Robert H. 1990 Rethinking rational choice. In Beyond the Marketplace. ed. Roger Friedland and A. Robertson New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Frey B. and R. Eichenberger 1989 Should Social Scientists Care About Choice Anomalies? Rationality and Society 1: 101–22.Google Scholar
Friedman D. M. Hechter. 1988 The Contribution of Rational Choice Models to Macro-sociological Research. Sociological Theory 6: 201–18.Google Scholar
Friedman D. and M. Hechter. 1990 The Comparative Advantage of Rational Choice Theory. In. Frontiers of Social Theory. ed. George Ritzer New York: Columbia University Press.
Friedman Jeffrey ed. 1996 The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Friedman Milton. 1952 The Methodology of Positive Economics. In Essays on Positive Economics. ed. M. Friedman Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 3–43.
Giddens Anthony 1979 Central Problems in Social Theory. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Goldthrope John H. 1996 The Quantitative Analysis of Large-Scale Data-Sets and Rational Action Theory: For a Sociological Alliance. European Sociological Review 12: 109–26.Google Scholar
Green D. I. Shapiro 1994 Pathologies of Rational Choice: A Critique of Applications in Political Science. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Hahn Frank and Martin Hollis 1979 Philosophy and Economic Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Halpern J. and R. Stern 1998 Debating Rationality. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Hechter Michael 1992 Should Values Be Written Out of the Sociologist's Lexicon? Sociological Theory 10: 214–30.Google Scholar
Hechter Michael 1994 The Role of Values in Rational Choice Theory. Rationality and Society 6: 318–33.Google Scholar
Hechter M. and S. Kanazawa 1997 Sociological Rational Choice Theory. Annual Review of Sociology 23.Google Scholar
Hempel Carl G. 1965 Aspects of Scientific Explanations. New York: Free Press.
Hogarth R. and M. Reder 1986 Perspectives from Economics and Psychology. In Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology. ed. R. Hogarth and M. Reder Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Keat R. and J. Urry. 1975 Social Theory as Science. London: Routledge.
King G. Keohane R. and S. Verba 1994 Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kiser Edgar and Michael Hechter. 1991 The Role of General Theory in Comparative-Historical Sociology. American Journal of Sociology 97: 1–30.Google Scholar
Kiser Edgar and Michael Hechter 1998 The Debate on Historical Sociology: Rational Choice Theory and Its Critics. American Journal of Sociology 104: 785 816.Google Scholar
Kuhn Thomas S. 1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakatos Imre 1970 Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. In Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. ed. I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lalman David Joe Oppenheimer and Piotr Swistak 1993 Formal Rational Choice Theory: A Cumulative Science of Politics. In Political Science: The State of the Discipline II. ed. Ada Finifter Washington, DC: American Political Science Association. 77 104.
Levy Jack S. 1997 Prospect Theory, Rational Choice, and International Relations. International Studies Quarterly 41: 87 112.Google Scholar
Little Daniel 1998 Microfoundations, Method, and Causation: On the Philosophy of the Social Sciences. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
March James G. 1978 Bounded Rationality, Ambiguity, and the Engineering of Choice. Bell Journal of Economics 9: 587 608.Google Scholar
Margolis Howard 1982 Selfishness, Altruism, and Rationality: A Theory of Social Choice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martin Lisa. 1999 The Contributions of Rational Choice. International Security 24: 74 83.Google Scholar
Miller Richard 1978 Methodological Individualism and Social Explanation. Philosophy of Science 45: 387 414.Google Scholar
Miller Richard. 1987 Fact and Method. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Moe Terry M. 1979 On the Scientific Status of Rational Choice Theory. American Journal of Political Science 23: 215–43.Google Scholar
Munck Gerardo 2001 Game Theory and Comparative Politics: New Perspectives and Old Concerns. World Politics 53: 173 204.Google Scholar
Nadel S. F. 1957 The Theory of Social Structure. New York: Free Press.
Nagel Ernest. 1961 The Structure of Science. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
Niou E. and P. Ordeshook 1999 Return of the Luddites. International Security 24: 84 96.Google Scholar
Petracca Mark P. 1991 The Rational Actor Approach to Politics. In The Economic Approach to Politics. ed. Kristen Monroe New York: Harper Collins.
Plott Charles R. 1986 Rational Choice in Experimental Markets. In Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology. ed. R. Hogarth and M. Reder Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Popper Karl 1959 The Logic of Scientific Discovery. New York: Basic Books.
Popper Karl 1962 Three Views Concerning Human Knowledge. In Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. ed. K. Popper New York: Basic Books.
Powell Robert 1999 The Modeling Enterprise and Security Studies. International Security 24: 96 106.Google Scholar
Putnam Hillary 1975 Mind, Language, and Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Putnam Hillary 1982 Three Kinds of Scientific-Realism. Philosophical Quarterly 32: 195 200.Google Scholar
Riker William H. 1990 Political Science and Rational Choice. In Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. ed. J. Alt and K. Shepsle Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Root Michael. 1993 Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge: Blackwell Press.
Rosenberg Alexander 1988 Philosophy of Social Science. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Satz D. and J. Ferejohn 1994 Rational Choice and Social Theory. Journal of Philosophy 91: 71 87.Google Scholar
Scharpf Fritz. 1990 Games Real Actors Could Play: The Problem of Complete Information. Rationality and Society 2: 471–94.Google Scholar
Sen Amartya K. 1979 Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioural Foundations of Economic Theory. In Scientific Models and Man, ed. H. Harris Oxford: Oxford University Press. 87 109.
Sen Amartya K. 1985 Behavior and the Concept of Preference. In Rational Choice. ed. J. Elster. New York: New York University Press.
Shapiro Ian and Alexander Wendt. 1992 The Difference That Realism Makes: Social Science and the Politics of Consent. Politics and Society 20 (2): 197 224.Google Scholar
Simon Herbert A. 1982 Models of Bounded Rationality. Vol. 1. Economic Analysis and Public Policy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Simon Herbert A. 1986 Rationality in Psychology and Economics. Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology. ed. Robin M. Hogarth and Melvin W. Reder Chicago: Chicago University Press. 25 40.
Smelser N. 1992 The Rational Choice Perspective: A Theoretical Assessment. Rationality and Society 4: 381 440.Google Scholar
Somers Margaret R. 1998 We’re No Angels': Realism, Rational Choice, and Relationality in Social Science. American Journal of Sociology 104: 722–84.Google Scholar
Stigler G. and G. Becker 1977 De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum. American Economic Review 67: 76 90.Google Scholar
Taylor Charles 1983 Social Theory as Practice. Dehli: Oxford University Press.
Thaler Richard H. 1986 The Psychology and Economics Conference Handbook: Comments. In Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology. ed. R. Hogarth and M. Reder Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Tsebelis George 1990 Nested Games: Rational Choice in Comparative Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tversky Amos and Daniel Kahneman 1974 Judgment under Uncertainty. Science 185: 1124–30.Google Scholar
Tversky Amos and Daniel Kahneman 1986 Rational Choice and the Framing of Decisions. Journal of Business 59: 251–78.Google Scholar
von Mises Ludwig 1960 Epistemological Problems of Economics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Von Neumann J. and O. Morgenstern 1964 Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley.
Webster Murray. 1973 Psychological Reductionism, Methodological Individualism, and Large-Scale Problems. American Sociological Review 38: 258–73.Google Scholar
Weinberg Stephen. 1993 Dreams of a Final Theory. New York: Pantheon Books.
Western Bruce. 2001 Bayesian Thinking about Macrosociology. American Journal of Sociology 107: 353–78.Google Scholar
Wippler R. and Lindenberg S. 1987 Collective Phenomena and Rational Choice. In The Macro–Micro Link. ed. J. Alexander et al. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Worrall John. 1982 Scientific Realism and Scientific Change. Philosophical Quarterly 28: 201–31.Google Scholar
Zagare Frank C. 1999 All Mortis, No Rigor. International Security 24: 107–14.Google Scholar
Zeckhauser Richard 1986 Behavioral verses Rational Economics. In Rational Choice: The Contrast between Economics and Psychology. ed. R. Hogarth and M. Reder Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.