Formalism: Rationality & Self Interest

Formalism (in economic anthropology, economics, and political science, etc.) assumes agents are self interested maximizers subject to the constraint of scarcity.

But self interest can be rightly expanded to include sentiments and motivations and preferences such as altruism, and can be amended to contain the interests of the collective.

People are SUBSTANTIVELY RATIONAL. But that is not a very risky claim. I'm an economist and assuming this works for a lot of stuff.

This is not to say that proceeding with formalist methods and deductive reasoning is appropriate for every situation. Assuming self-interest is a reasonable methodology in many instances, particularly in Western, capitalist countries.

This could proceed into a discussion of Polanyi and the imbeddedness or disembeddedness of an economy...

The Gonzo Social Scientist

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