The Weak Rationality Principle in Economics

Gebhard Kirchgässner

No 1410, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: The weak rationality principle is not an empirical statement but a heuristic rule of how to proceed in social sciences. It is a necessary ingredient of any ‘understanding’ social science in the Weberian sense. In this paper, first this principle and its role in economic theorizing is discussed. It is also explained why it makes sense to use a micro-foundation and, therefore, employ the rationality assumption in economic models. Then, with reference to the ‘bounded rationality’ approach, the informational assumptions are discussed. Third, we address the assumption of self-interest which is often seen as a part of the rationality assumption. We conclude with some remarks on handling the problems of ‘free will’ as well as ‘weakness of the will’ within the economic approach.

Keywords: rationality; self interest; micro-foundation; bounded rationality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo and nep-hpe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Weak Rationality Principle in Economics (2013)
Working Paper: The Weak Rationality Principle in Economics (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1410

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