Abstract
This paper considers the communitarian critique of the method of economics, especially in regard to its methodological individualism, with reference in particular to cultural economics. It asks whether cultural goods can be modelled in a meaningful way under the usual assumptions in neoclassical economics about individual economic agents. Special attention is paid to Charles Taylor's critique of ''atomism'', and his suggestion that some goods are ''irreducibly social''. The implications of the critique for (1) public funding of the arts, and (2) copyright policy, are considered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Becker, G.S. (1976) The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Becker, L.C. (1993) “Deserving to Own Intellectual Property”. Chicago-Kent Law Review 68: 609–629.
Berger, L.A. (1991) “Self-interpretation, Attention, and Language: Implications for Economics of Charles Taylor' Hermeneutics”, in D. Lavoie, ed., Economics and Hermeneutics. Routledge, London.
Blaug, M. (1992) The Methodology of Economics, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Brighouse, H. (1995) “Neutrality, Publicity, and State Funding of the Arts”. Philosophy and Public Affairs 24: 35–63.
Friedman, M. (1953) “The Methodology of Positive Economics”. Essays in Positive Economics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Geertz, C. (1980) “Blurred Genres: The Reconfiguration of Social Thought”. The American Scholar 49: 165–179.
Goldstein, P. (1994) Copyright' Highway: The Law and Lore of Copyright from Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox. Hill and Wang, New York.
Gordon, W.J. (1993) “A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property”. Yale Law Journal 102: 1533–1609.
Hayek, F.A. (1988) The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Head, J.G. (1991) “MeritWants: Analysis and Taxonomy?”, in L. Eden (ed.), Retrospectives on Public Finance. Duke University Press, Durham NC.
Knight, F. (1956) “Social Science”. On the History and Method of Economics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Koboldt, C. (1995) “Intellectual Property and Optimal Copyright Protection”. Journal of Cultural Economics 19 (2): 131–155.
Koboldt, C. (1996) “Optimising the Use of Cultural Heritage”. Center for the Study of Law and Economics, Discussion Paper 9601, Department of Economics, Universität des Saarlandes.
Lachmann, L.M. (1969) “Methodological Individualism and the Market Economy” in E. Streissler, G. Haberler, F. Lutz, and F. Machlup (eds.), Roads to Freedom: Essays in Honour of F.A. von Hayek. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Landes, W.M. and Posner, R.A. (1989) “An Economic Analysis of Copyright Law”. Journal of Legal Studies 18: 325–363.
MacIntyre, A. (1948) After Virtue. Second edition. University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame IN.
Madison, G.B. (1991) “Getting Beyond Objectivism: The Philosophical Hermeneutics of Gadamer and Ricoeur”, in D. Lavoie (ed.), Economics and Hermeneutics. Routledge, London.
Musgrave, R.A. (1959) The Theory of Public Finance. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Musgrave, R.A. (1987) “Merit Goods”, in J. Eatwell, M. Milgate, and P. Newman (eds.), The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. Macmillan, London.
Netanel, N. (1996) “Copyright and a Democratic Civil Society”. Yale Law Journal 106: 283–387.
Oakeshott, M. (1962) Rationalism in Politics. Methuen, New York.
Rushton, M. (1997) “When in Rome...: Amending Canada' Copyright Act”. Canadian Public Policy 23: 317–330.
Rushton, M. (1998) “The Moral Rights of Artists: Droit Moral ou Droit Pécuniaire?” Journal of Cultural Economics 22: 15–32.
Sandel, M.J. (1982) Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Schumpeter, J.A. (1954) History of Economic Analysis. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Sen, A. (1979) “Personal Utilities and Public Judgements: or What' Wrong with Welfare Economics?” Economic Journal 89: 537–558.
Stigler, G.J. and Becker, G.S. (1977) “De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum”. American Economic Review 67 (2): 76–90.
Taylor, C. (1985) Philosophy and the Human Sciences: Philosophical Papers 2. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Taylor, C. (1989) Sources of the Self. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
Taylor, C. (1993) “Institutions in National Life”, in Reconciling the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism. McGill-Queen' University Press, Montreal & Kingston.
Taylor, C. (1995) “Irreducibly Social Goods”. Philosophical Arguments. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rushton, M. Methodological Individualism and Cultural Economics. Journal of Cultural Economics 23, 137–146 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007556402981
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007556402981