David Hume's model of man: Classical political economy as “inspired” political economy

Alain Marciano

Review of Social Economy, 2006, vol. 64, issue 3, 369-386

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyse David Hume's model of man. We show that three major elements characterize his representation of man: first the weaknesses and limitations of human rationality; second, the psychological foundations of human behaviour, with a particular focus on the role of association in human cognition; and third, the collective dimension of individual learning through a process of communication based on sympathy. Therefore, we show that the theory of human nature and human cognition Hume proposes is different from the narrow view of man as homo œconomicus that is used by mainstream economists.

Keywords: Hume; associationist psychology; cognition; sympathy; homo œconomicus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1080/00346760600892782

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