"Alternative Economical Apporach to the Phenomenon of Altruism"
| Author: | PhDr. Pavel Štika |
|---|---|
| Year: | 2006 - winter |
| Leaders: | prof. RNDr. Jiří Hlaváček CSc. |
| Consultants: | |
| Work type: | Doctoral |
| Language: | Czech |
| Pages: | 77 |
| Awards and prizes: | |
| Link: | |
| Abstract: | In this paper I propose a possible solution which can enable economics to tackle the phenomenon of genuine altruism motivated purely by an interest in welfare of the others. In the second chapter I suggest methodological basis, which enables us to handle the issue. Inspired by post-classical streams of economic thought I come out from the concept of methodological realism leading to an organismic perception of men. Habitual behaviour is then identified as a response of procedurally rational individual to the environment of fundamental uncertainty. In the third chapter I further enlarge perceiving of men by the conception of Jung’s psychology of personality and the theory of cognitive dissonance. Distorting influence of the unconscious part of psyche and conceptual way of reality perception enhance importance of habits. Interpretation of habits is - beside behavioural habits - widened by habits called perceptional. In the fourth chapter I present a brief overview of two motivation theories – motivation coming out from Maslow’s approach of hierarchization of needs and motivation coming out of the theory of habit bolstering. In the fifth chapter I propose a model, which reflects all the facts mentioned above. As an optimal response to the model environment I identify certain form of altruism represented by following of the sum-of-utilities maximization rule. By comparison of the model and reality I come to the problems of social influence on institutional, habitual equipment of an individual and I identify situations observed in real life, which are similar to the modelled one. Following the optics of the model I next briefly handle with problems of institutional change and coexistence of different cultures. In the last chapter I show potential possibilities of next development of the model in the domain of the Agent-Based Computational Economics. In the end I point out the fact, that all our past behaviour (including thinking) determines our present limited set of choices, and that all our current choices considerably determine our future. |
