and the neurophysiological basics of methodological individualismThe Sensory Order

Francesco Di Iorio

A chapter in The Social Science of Hayek's ‘The Sensory Order’, 2010, pp 179-209 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Purpose – To show that The Sensory Order is an original effort to support, on a neurophysiologic basis, methodological individualism. Methodology/approach – Considering that the mind is a complex and self-organized order, Hayek criticizes methodological holism according to which the cause of action has to be sought outside the individual, in macro-laws governing social wholes. He argues that, due to the nature of the mind, the cause of action has to be sought inside the individual. Findings – The paper stresses that scholars have more or less neglected a very important point in discussions of the Austrian author's psychology. Hayek's psychology supports the idea that the explanation of the action stems from the understanding of its meaning. Research limitations/implications – The article only discusses some of the epistemological consequences of Hayek's theory of the mind. For instance, it does not analyze in a detailed way the relationship between this theory and the idea of distributed knowledge. It left an in-depth examination of this issue for subsequent research. Originality/value of paper – Many authors state that Hayek's version of methodological individualism only examines the non-intentional effects of action, neglecting the importance of Verstehen. They argue that the Austrian scholar is not a complete and coherent champion of methodological individualism. The paper shows that this criticism is unfounded.

Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:aaeczz:s1529-2134(2010)0000013010

DOI: 10.1108/S1529-2134(2010)0000013010

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