EconLog, Is Homo Economicus A Sociopath?, Bryan Caplan: Library of Economics and Liberty
EconLog, Is Homo Economicus A Sociopath?, Bryan Caplan: Library of Economics and Liberty: "Is Homo Economicus A Sociopath?, August 06, 2005
by Bryan Caplan
The other day I was reading Martha Stout's The Sociopath Next Door. Although it's engaging, it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. But it did remind me of a question I've wondered about before: Is homo economicus a sociopath? Is microeconomic theory founded on the premise that the percentage of sociopaths in the population is not 4%, as Stout claims, but 100%?
Modern psychiatrists prefer to call sociopaths 'people suffering from anti-social personality disorder,' though as a Szaszian aside, I'd say that if anyone 'suffers' from it, it's the people who don't have it! In any case, here are its main official symptoms:"
read more?...
Technorati tags: economics,disfunctional,diseases,people
by Bryan Caplan
The other day I was reading Martha Stout's The Sociopath Next Door. Although it's engaging, it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. But it did remind me of a question I've wondered about before: Is homo economicus a sociopath? Is microeconomic theory founded on the premise that the percentage of sociopaths in the population is not 4%, as Stout claims, but 100%?
Modern psychiatrists prefer to call sociopaths 'people suffering from anti-social personality disorder,' though as a Szaszian aside, I'd say that if anyone 'suffers' from it, it's the people who don't have it! In any case, here are its main official symptoms:"
read more?...
Technorati tags: economics,disfunctional,diseases,people
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