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QUESTION 1

1. Considering the fact that modernity promotes self-interest, even at the expense of others for the benefit of the self, is it at all possible that an individual can totally avoid relations or interactions in pursuit of his or her desires?

Example of Biology

"This problem has a parallel in biology: it is like to try to talk about the effects of genes without environments, and commonly recognized to be a dead end. Social scientists should likewise acknowledge that consideration of individuals without an institutional context is also a non-starter" (Hodgson 219).

Main argument is as follows:

  • The term coined by Joseph Schumpeter has come to be interpreted in various ways; and this, is ambiguous.
  • The issue here, though, is that the term is misleading because it does not accurately depict the fact that “social phenomena should be explained in terms of the individuals plus relations between individuals” (Hodgson 220).

QUESTION 2

Explanantia

2. How does methodological individualism interfere with our ability to be autonomous and free? Pros and cons?

Infinite Regress

“Among several attributed meanings, the idea of ‘explanations in terms of individuals’ is identified here as both prominent and problematic. It is particularly problematic because it is unclear whether it means that explanations should be in terms of individuals plus relations between individuals, or in terms of individuals alone. This difference in explanantia turns out to be critical” (Hodgson 222).

"As long as we are addressing social phenomena, we never reach an end point where there are isolated individuals, and nothing more. We are involved in an apparently infinite regress...In this infinite regress, neither individual nor institutional factors have legitimate explanatory primacy" (Hodgson 219).

Example of Cognition

Labels vs. Content

“The problem then becomes one more of labels than of content. Although (b) and (b+) are both acceptable statements, there is no good reason why they should be described as methodological individualism. It would be equally legitimate to describe them as ‘methodological structuralism’ or ‘methodological institutionalism’. All such descriptions are misleading” (Hodgson 221).

"The means of our understanding of the world are necessarily acquired through social relationships and interactions. Cognition is a social as well as an individual process. Individual choice is impossible without these institutions and interactions" (Hodgson 218).

"Meanings of methodological individualism" by Geoffrey M. Hodgson

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