Economics, Rational Choice and Normative Philosophy (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)

209 Pages·2008·2.4 MB·English

by  Thomas Boylan:

Economics, Rational Choice and
Normative Philosophy
Following Amartya Sen’s insistence on expanding the framework of rational
choice theory by taking into account ‘non-utility information’, economists, politi-
cal scientists and philosophers have recently concentrated their efforts on analys-
ing the issues related to rights, freedom, diversity intentions and equality. Thomas
Boylan and Ruvin Gekker have gathered essays that reflect this trend.
The particular themes addressed in this volume include the measurement of
diversity and freedom, formal analysis of individual rights and intentions, judg-
ment aggregation under constraints and strategic manipulation in fuzzy environ-
ments. Some chapters in the volume also deal with philosophical aspects of
normative social choice.
This book will be of great interest to students engaged in social choice, public
choice and normative philosophy.
Thomas A. Boylan is a Personal Professor of Economics in the Department of
Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Ruvin Gekker is a Lecturer in Economics in the Department of Economics at the
National University of Ireland, Galway.
Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy
1 Equilibrium versus Understanding 11 Borderlands of Economics
Towards the rehumanization of Essays in honour of Daniel R. Fusfeld
economics within social theory Edited by Nahid Aslanbeigui and
Mark Addleson Young Back Choi
2 Evolution, Order and Complexity 12 Value, Distribution and Capital
Edited by Elias L. Khalil and Kenneth Essays in honour of Pierangelo
E. Boulding Garegnani
Edited by Gary Mongiovi and Fabio
3 Interactions in Political Economy
Petri
Malvern after ten years
Edited by Steven Pressman 13 The Economics of Science
Methodology and epistemology as if
4 The End of Economics
economics really mattered
Michael Perelman
James R. Wible
5 Probability in Economics
14 Competitiveness, Localised
Omar F. Hamouda and Robin Rowley
Learning and Regional
6 Capital Controversy, Post Development
Keynesian Economics and the Specialisation and prosperity in small
History of Economics open economies
Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt, Peter Maskell, Heikki Eskelinen,
volume one Ingjaldur Hannibalsson, Anders
Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel Malmberg and Eirik Vatne
Palma and Malcolm Sawyer
15 Labour Market Theory
7 Markets, Unemployment and A constructive reassessment
Economic Policy Ben J. Fine
Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt,
16 Women and European Employment
volume two
Jill Rubery, Mark Smith, Colette
Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel
Fagan and Damian Grimshaw
Palma and Malcolm Sawyer
17 Explorations in Economic
8 Social Economy
Methodology
The logic of capitalist development
From Lakatos to empirical philosophy
Clark Everling
of science
9 New Keynesian Economics/Post Roger Backhouse
Keynesian Alternatives
18 Subjectivity in Political Economy
Edited by Roy J. Rotheim
Essays on wanting and choosing
10 The Representative Agent in David P. Levine
Macroeconomics
James E. Hartley
19 The Political Economy of Middle 30 Gender, Growth and Trade
East Peace The miracle economies of the postwar
The impact of competing trade years
agendas David Kucera
Edited by J. W. Wright, Jnr
31 Normative Political Economy
20 The Active Consumer Subjective freedom, the market and
Novelty and surprise in consumer the state
choice David Levine
Edited by Marina Bianchi
32 Economist with a Public Purpose
21 Subjectivism and Economic Essays in honour of John Kenneth
Analysis Galbraith
Essays in memory of Ludwig Edited by Michael Keaney
Lachmann
33 Involuntary Unemployment
Edited by Roger Koppl and Gary
The elusive quest for a theory
Mongiovi
Michel De Vroey
22 Themes in Post-Keynesian
34 The Fundamental Institutions of
Economics
Capitalism
Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt,
Ernesto Screpanti
volume three
Edited by Claudio Sardoni and Peter 35 Transcending Transaction
Kriesler The search for self-generating
markets
23 The Dynamics of Technological
Alan Shipman
Knowledge
Cristiano Antonelli 36 Power in Business and the State
An historical analysis of its
24 The Political Economy of Diet,
concentration
Health and Food Policy
Frank Bealey
Ben J. Fine
37 Editing Economics
25 The End of Finance
Essays in honour of Mark Perlman
Capital market inflation, financial
Hank Lim, Ungsuh K. Park and Geoff
derivatives and pension fund
Harcourt
capitalism
Jan Toporowski 38 Money, Macroeconomics and
Keynes
26 Political Economy and the New
Essays in honour of Victoria Chick,
Capitalism
volume one
Edited by Jan Toporowski
Philip Arestis, Meghnad Desai and
27 Growth Theory Sheila Dow
A philosophical perspective
39 Methodology, Microeconomics and
Patricia Northover
Keynes
28 The Political Economy of the Small Essays in honour of Victoria Chick,
Firm volume two
Edited by Charlie Dannreuther Philip Arestis, Meghnad Desai and
Sheila Dow
29 Hahn and Economic Methodology
Edited by Thomas Boylan and 40 Market Drive and Governance
Paschal F. O’Gorman Reexamining the rules for economic
and commercial contest
Ralf Boscheck
41 The Value of Marx 55 Individualism and the Social Order
Political economy for contemporary The social element in liberal thought
capitalism Charles R. McCann Jnr.
Alfredo Saad-Filho
56 Affirmative Action in the United
42 Issues in Positive Political Economy States and India
S. Mansoob Murshed A comparative perspective
Thomas E. Weisskopf
43 The Enigma of Globalisation
A journey to a new stage of capitalism 57 Global Political Economy and the
Robert Went Wealth of Nations
Performance, institutions, problems
44 The Market
and policies
Equilibrium, stability, mythology
Edited by Phillip Anthony O’Hara
S. N. Afriat
58 Structural Economics
45 The Political Economy of Rule
Thijs ten Raa
Evasion and Policy Reform
Jim Leitzel 59 Macroeconomic Theory and
Economic Policy
46 Unpaid Work and the Economy
Essays in honour of Jean-Paul
Edited by Antonella Picchio
Fitoussi
47 Distributional Justice Edited by K. Vela Velupillai
Theory and measurement
60 The Struggle over Work
Hilde Bojer
The ‘end of work’ and employment
48 Cognitive Developments in alternatives in post-industrial societies
Economics Shaun Wilson
Edited by Salvatore Rizzello
61 The Political Economy of Global
49 Social Foundations of Markets, Sporting Organisations
Money and Credit John Forster and Nigel Pope
Costas Lapavitsas
62 The Flawed Foundations of
50 Rethinking Capitalist Development General Equilibrium Theory
Essays on the economics of Josef Critical essays on economic theory
Steindl Frank Ackerman and Alejandro
Edited by Tracy Mott and Nina Nadal
Shapiro
63 Uncertainty in Economic Theory
51 An Evolutionary Approach to Essays in honor of David
Social Welfare Schmeidler’s 65th Birthday
Christian Sartorius Edited by Itzhak Gilboa
52 Kalecki’s Economics Today 64 The New Institutional Economics of
Edited by Zdzislaw L. Sadowski and Corruption
Adam Szeworski Edited by Johann Graf Lambsdorff,
Markus Taube and Matthias Schramm
53 Fiscal Policy from Reagan to Blair
The left veers right 65 The Price Index and its Extension
Ravi K. Roy and Arthur T. Denzau A chapter in economic measurement
S. N. Afriat
54 The Cognitive Mechanics of
Economic Development and 66 Reduction, Rationality and Game
Institutional Change Theory in Marxian Economics
Bertin Martens Bruce Philp
67 Culture and Politics in Economic 80 Economics, Ethics and the Market
Development Introduction and applications
Volker Bornschier Johan J. Graafland
68 Modern Applications of Austrian 81 Social Costs and Public Action in
Thought Modern Capitalism
Edited by Jürgen G. Backhaus Essays inspired by Karl William
Kapp’s theory of social costs
69 Ordinary Choices
Edited by Wolfram Elsner, Pietro
Individuals, incommensurability, and
Frigato and Paolo Ramazzotti
democracy
Robert Urquhart 82 Globalization and the Myths of
Free Trade
70 Labour Theory of Value
History, theory and empirical
Peter C. Dooley
evidence
71 Capitalism Edited by Anwar Shaikh
Victor D. Lippit
83 Equilibrium in Economics
72 Macroeconomic Foundations of Scope and limits
Macroeconomics Edited by Valeria Mosini
Alvaro Cencini
84 Globalization
73 Marx for the 21st Century State of the art and perspectives
Edited by Hiroshi Uchida Edited by Stefan A. Schirm
74 Growth and Development in the 85 Neoliberalism
Global Political Economy National and regional experiments
Social structures of accumulation and with global ideas
modes of regulation Edited by Ravi K. Roy, Arthur T.
Phillip Anthony O’Hara Denzau and Thomas D. Willett
75 The New Economy and 86 Post-Keynesian Macroeconomics
Macroeconomic Stability Economics
A neo-modern perspective drawing Essays in honour of Ingrid Rima
on the complexity approach and Edited by Mathew Forstater, Gary
Keynesian economics Mongiovi and Steven Pressman
Teodoro Dario Togati
87 Consumer Capitalism
76 The Future of Social Security Anastasios S. Korkotsides
Policy
88 Remapping Gender in the New
Women, work and a Citizens’ Basic
Global Order
Income
Edited by Marjorie Griffin Cohen and
Ailsa McKay
Janine Brodie
77 Clinton and Blair
89 Hayek and Natural Law
The political economy of the Third
Eric Angner
Way
Flavio Romano 90 Race and Economic Opportunity in
the Twenty-First Century
78 Marxian Reproduction Schema
Edited by Marlene Kim
Money and aggregate demand in a
capitalist economy 91 Renaissance in Behavioural
A. B. Trigg Economics
Harvey Leibenstein’s impact on
79 The Core Theory in Economics
contemporary economic analysis
Problems and solutions
Edited by Roger Frantz
Lester G. Telser
92 Human Ecology Economics 105 The Keynesian Multiplier
A new framework for global Edited by Claude Gnos and Louis-
sustainability Philippe Rochon
Edited by Roy E. Allen
106 Money, Enterprise and Income
93 Imagining Economics Otherwise Distribution
Encounters with identity/difference Towards a macroeconomic theory of
Nitasha Kaul capitalism
John Smithin
94 Reigniting the Labor Movement
Restoring means to ends in a 107 Fiscal Decentralization and Local
democratic labor movement Public Finance in Japan
Gerald Friedman Nobuki Mochida
95 The Spatial Model of Politics 108 The ‘Uncertain’ Foundations of
Norman Schofield Post-Keynesian Economics
Essays in exploration
96 The Economics of American
Stephen P. Dunn
Judaism
Carmel Ullman Chiswick 109 Karl Marx’s Grundrisse
Foundations of the critique of
97 Critical Political Economy
political economy 150 years later
Christian Arnsperger
Edited by Marcello Musto
98 Culture and Economic Explanation
110 Economics and the Price Index
Economics in the US and Japan
S. N. Afriat and Carlo Milana
Donald W. Katzner
111 Sublime Economy
99 Feminism, Economics and Utopia
On the intersection of art and
Time Travelling through Paradigms
economics
Karin Schönpflug
Edited by Jack Amariglio, Joseph W.
100 Risk in International Finance Childers and Stephen E. Cullenberg
Vikash Yadav
112 Popper, Hayek and the Open
101 Economic Policy and Performance Society
in Industrial Democracies Calvin Hayes
Party governments, central banks and
113 The Political Economy of Work
the fiscal–monetary policy mix
David Spencer
Takayuki Sakamoto
114 Institutional Economics
102 Advances on Income Inequality and
Bernard Chavance
Concentration Measures
Edited by Gianni Betti and Achille 115 Religion, Economics and
Lemmi Demography
The effects of religion on education,
103 Economic Representations
work, and the family
Academic and everyday
Evelyn L. Lehrer
Edited by David F. Ruccio
116 Economics, Rational Choice and
104 Mathematical Economics and the
Normative Philosophy
Dynamics of Capitalism
Edited by Thomas A. Boylan and
Goodwin’s legacy continued
Ruvin Gekker
Edited by Peter Flaschel and Michael
Landesmann
Economics, Rational Choice
and Normative Philosophy
Edited by Thomas A. Boylan
and Ruvin Gekker
First published 2009
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
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
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collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 Editorial matter and selection, Thomas A. Boylan and Ruvin
Gekker; individual chapters, the contributors
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.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Economics, rational choice, and normative philosophy / edited by Thomas
A. Boylan and Ruvin Gekker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Economics. 2. Philosophy. 3. Rational choice theory. I. Boylan, Thomas
A. II. Gekker, Ruvin.
HB72.E277 2009
330.01–dc22
2008021536
ISBN 0-203-88764-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–43580–3 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–88764–6 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–43580–2 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–88764–6 (ebk)
Contents
List of contributors xii
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
PART I
Diversity, rights, norms and intentions 13

1 What is diversity? 15
NICOLAS GRAVEL
Introduction 15
Comparing sets of objects: general principles 18
Diversity as generalized entropy 31
Diversity as aggregate dissimilarity 37
Diversity as the valuation of realized attributes 47
Conclusion 51
2 Intentions, decisions and rationality 56
MARTIN VAN HEES AND OLIVIER ROY
Introduction 56
Intentions to act 57
Extensive decision models 58
Intentions as plans of action 61
Intentions and counterfactuals 65
The formation of intentions 67
Conclusion 70
3 Waiving and exercising rights in the theory of social situations 73
RUVIN GEKKER
Introduction 73
Sen’s and game form formulations of rights 74