Towards a unity of sense: A critical analysis of the concept of relation in methodological individualism and holism in Economics

Giancarlo Ianulardo and Aldo Stella
Additional contact information
Giancarlo Ianulardo: University of Exeter Business School - University of Exeter
Aldo Stella: UNIPG - Università degli Studi di Perugia = University of Perugia

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: In social sciences and, in particular, in economics the debate on the most adequate model of explanation of social phenomena has been centred around two models: Methodological Individualism and Holism. While Methodological Individualism claims to be the most rigorous attempt to explain social phenomena by reducing them to their ultimate components, Holism stresses the primacy of the social relation, outside of which individuals cannot be understood as analytical units. In the analysis, we will refer to the way the debate has influenced economics education too through the debate on microfoundations and the role of individual preferences. In synthesis, we aim to show that the two explanatory models, rather than being opposed, need to be integrated, because they need each other. But for this to be done, we need to reflect on the role that the concept of "relation" plays in our understanding of the social structure and of the dynamics that characterises it. Indeed, the holistic-systemic model, though privileging the relation, must acknowledge that the relation needs some ultimate elements (the individuals), which in turn are prioritised by methodological individualism. But these entities, the individuals, in order to be what they are, i.e., each a determinate identity, need each to be referred to other individuals, which are essential to determine the single determinate identity. This means that each individual needs the relation. To prevent a circular explanation, we claim that a correct methodology should understand both the individual and society in the light of the unity of sense that emerges at the end of the process, rather than focusing on its starting point.

Keywords: Methodological Individualism; holism; systemism; relation; unity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-12-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-pke
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03771892v3
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Philosophical Economics, 2022, Volume XV, ⟨10.46298/jpe.10013⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-03771892v3/document (application/pdf)

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:hal:journl:hal-03771892

DOI: 10.46298/jpe.10013

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().