Foundations of Evolutionary Economics, Chapter Four: Individuals

FOUNDATIONS OF EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS, Edward Elgar, Forthcoming

Posted: 7 Mar 2011

See all articles by Carsten Herrmann-Pillath

Carsten Herrmann-Pillath

Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies

Date Written: March 4, 2011

Abstract

This is an entirely new draft of the fourth chapter of my book Foundations of Evolutionary Economics which is going to be published by Edward Elgar in due course. A full summary of chapter four can be found at the beginning of the main text. The chapter argues that the evolutionary notion of the individual is an abstract, multi-level one, including groups. This builds on an externalist approach to mind, which I define as supervening on the brain and signs as physical entities. Drawing on neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, I propose a dual selves model of the individual. In a dual selves model, emotions and identity emerge as integrative concepts that explain the possibility of agency. Agency is distributed, dual to the distributed nature of human knowledge. Against the background of an evolutionary theory of needs and wants, consumption is seen as a performative act.

Overview of book contents

• Chapter 1: Ontology • Chapter 2: Causality • Chapter 3: Evolution • Chapter 4: Individuals • Chapter 5: Networks • Chapter 6: Institutions • Chapter 7: Technology • Chapter 8: Markets

Keywords: externalism, distributed cognition, neuronal darwinism, dual selves, wants and needs

JEL Classification: B52, D0

Suggested Citation

Herrmann-Pillath, Carsten, Foundations of Evolutionary Economics, Chapter Four: Individuals (March 4, 2011). FOUNDATIONS OF EVOLUTIONARY ECONOMICS, Edward Elgar, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1776652

Carsten Herrmann-Pillath (Contact Author)

Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies ( email )

Nordhäuserstr. 74
Erfurt, 90228
Germany

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