tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post4975911869311521508..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: Social agency and rational choiceDan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-60768217539955523122009-01-11T10:16:00.000-05:002009-01-11T10:16:00.000-05:00"What we really need is a more developed and adequ..."What we really need is a more developed and adequate theory of social agency -- a better account of how the various factors mentioned above fit together into **one scheme of deliberation and decision-making**."<BR/><BR/>From the perspective of writing history that sounds like an unachievable holy grail. For example, in the last five months our whole conception of the world economy has changed and what is rational. <BR/><BR/>Wikipedia: "...models of rational choice...all assume individuals **choose the best action** according to stable preference functions and constraints facing them ... Proponents ...claim ...only that good models can aid reasoning and provide help in formulating falsifiable hypotheses..."<BR/><BR/>Optimizing models can provide precise falsifiable hypothese like Boserup and Malthus formalized reifying the "covering laws" of Hempel, C. G. (1942). "The Function of General Laws in Hystory." The Journal of Philosophy, 39. Empirically trying to fit such models as Turchin tries to might proof somewhat infeasible, but such models help to be more precise, though many readers can't handle the math.Jon Fernquesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14974424595128404537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-4750039542170659992009-01-10T17:10:00.000-05:002009-01-10T17:10:00.000-05:00Hard to disagree with your post, but I'd like to e...Hard to disagree with your post, but I'd like to emphasise that the reason RC has seen a "backlash" is because it has been repeatedly applied to situations it does not model well.<BR/><BR/>And indeed, such mis-application appears to be the foundation of whole political philosophies that have prominent actors in our government system within their grip...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com