Beyond Homo Economicus: Economic Fluctuations and Legalized Plunder in Vico’s Cyclical History

Hyun-Nam Im

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper challenges the fundamental assumptions of mainstream economics, particularly the concept of Homo Economicus (the rational economic man) and the mathematical illusion of general equilibrium. By integrating Giambattista Vico’s cyclical philosophy of history with established economic theory, this treatise proposes a new ontological framework for understanding modern capitalism. First, this paper redefines human economic behavior not as rational choice, but as the dynamic interaction of an ontological triad structured around libido, anxiety, and sin. Second, it diagnoses the 21st century as the ‘Era of Grand Analogy’, in which physical imitation and administrative bureaucracy have given rise to a state of collective amorality (Søren Kierkegaard’s Åndløshed). Third, it deconstructs the ‘equal sign (=)’ of macroeconomics as a mere decalcomanic illusion created by densely aggregated data. Furthermore, it traces how this illusion solidified into a natural theory in tandem with the exponential expansion of currency, population, and administration, thereby exposing it as a mechanism that conceals the ‘legalized plunder’ perpetrated by vested interests. In particular, this paper rejects the conventional, dry mathematical style of academic writing, instead adopting a metaphorical and literary mode of exposition that embeds Vico’s cyclical philosophy of history into the very structure of the text itself. Ultimately, this paper argues that economics must be understood as fundamentally distinct from Platonic political idealism; rather, it is the immanent law of the masses—a living embodiment of Vico’s principle verum ipsum factum (the truth is what is made). It concludes that the resolution to the modern structural crisis lies not in the mechanical adjustment of economic variables, but rather in the restoration of Aristotelian ethics and authentic education.

Keywords: Giambattista Vico; Legalized Plunder; Era of Grand Analogy; Aristotelian Ethics; Ontological Triad. Heterodox Economics; Macroeconomic Theory. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B41 E32 K00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hpe and nep-pke
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