Homo economicus: Part human, part machine

• Authors: O'Boyle Edward J.

Title variants

PL

Homo economicus: Częściowo człowiek, częściowo maszyna

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

For more than 100 years, homo economicus has been an essential concept in the way that orthodox economics represents the economic agent, construes economic behavior, and presents its insights on economic affairs. Students of economics are taught to think in terms of homo economicus and are reinforced relentlessly as they continue their studies. Orthodox economists claim that their way of thinking is akin to the value-free thinking of physical scientists, but they are mistaken. Orthodox economics is not value-free. It rests firmly on utilitarianism which teaches that human beings have value in terms of their usefulness. We propose a different economics that replaces utilitarianism with personalism which derives from and extends the work of William Waters (economics), R.D. Laing (psychiatry), Walter Ong (human communication), John Paul II and Edith Stein (philosophy and theology), and C.S. Lewis and Gerard Manley Hopkins (literature). We refer to this new economics as personalist economics and the new economic agent as the person of action. Homo economicus is a passive economic agent who selects from the various options available at the moment the one that offers the promise of maximum personal net advantage. The person of action is an active, living, breathing, existential actuality who by acting virtuously in economics is better positioned to achieve his/her final objective in life – human perfection.

PL

Od ponad 100 lat homo economus jest podstawowym pojęciem sposobu, w jaki ekonomia ortodoksyjna przedstawia podmiot gospodarczy, rozumie zachowania gospodarcze i prezentuje swoje spojrzenie na sprawy gospodarcze. Ortodoksyjni ekonomiści twierdzą, że ich sposób myślenia jest podobny do wolnego od oceny myślenia fizyków, ale się mylą. Ortodoksyjna ekonomia nie jest wolna od wartościowania. Opiera się ona mocno na utylitaryzmie, który uczy, że istoty ludzkie mają wartość z punktu widzenia swojej przydatności. Proponujemy inną ekonomię, zastępującą utylitaryzm personalizmem, która wywodzi się i rozszerza prace Williama Watersa (ekonomia), R.D. Lainga (psychiatria), Waltera Onga (komunikacja ludzka), Jana Pawła II i Edyty Stein (filozofia i teologia), a także C.S. Lewisa i Gerarda Manley Hopkinsa (literatura). Tę nową ekonomię nazywamy ekonomią personalistyczną, a nowy podmiot gospodarczy – człowiekiem czynu. Homo economicus jest pasywnym podmiotem gospodarczym, który wybiera spośród różnych dostępnych w danym momencie opcji tę, która oferuje mu obietnicę maksymalnej osobistej korzyści netto. Człowiek czynu jest aktywną, żywą, oddychającą, egzystencjalną rzeczywistością, która działając w ekonomii w sposób moralny, jest lepiej sytuowana do osiągnięcia swojego ostatecznego celu w życiu – ludzkiej doskonałości.

Keywords

EN

homo economicus; person of action; utilitarianism; personalism; divided self; united self

PL

homo economicus; człowiek czynu; utylitaryzm; personalizm; podzielone Ja; zjednoczone Ja

• Publisher: Spółdzielczy Instytut Naukowy G. Bierecki sp.j.
• Journal: Pieniądze i Więź
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 1(86)
• Pages: 7-21

Dates

published

2020-06

Contributors

author

O'Boyle Edward J.

• Mayo Research Institute, 1217 Dean Chapel Road, West Monroe, Louisiana 71291 USA

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Identifiers

ISSN

1506-7513