RECONCILING GROUP SELECTION AND METHODOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALISM

Todd J. Zywicki

A chapter in Evolutionary Psychology and Economic Theory, 2005, pp 267-277 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Methodological individualism underpins economic analysis. In his paper in this volume, however, Douglas Glen Whitman demonstrates that group selection can be reconciled with methodological individualism. This essay extends Whitman’s analysis in two ways. First, it summarizes and restates the necessary conditions for group selection to play a role in the evolution of human preferences and societies. Second, it discusses the role of group selection in Hayek’s thought, with a particular focus on the role of group selection in the evolution of legal rules and the rule of law. The viability of group selection is demonstrated to be an empirical question.

Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.101 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.101 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:aaeczz:s1529-2134(04)07013-9

DOI: 10.1016/S1529-2134(04)07013-9

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Advances in Austrian Economics from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().