Synopses & Reviews
Rationality and freedom are among the most profound and contentious concepts in philosophy and the social sciences. In two volumes on rationality, freedom, and justice, the distinguished economist and philosopher Amartya Sen brings clarity and insight to these difficult issues. This volume--the first of the two--is principally concerned with rationality and freedom.
Sen scrutinizes and departs from the standard criteria of rationality, and shows how it can be seen in terms of subjecting one's values as well as choices to the demands of reason and critical scrutiny. This capacious approach is utilized to illuminate the demands of rationality in individual choice (including decisions under uncertainty) as well as social choice (including cost benefit analysis and environmental assessment).
Identifying a reciprocity in the relationship between rationality and freedom, Sen argues that freedom cannot be assessed independently of a person's reasoned preferences and valuations, just as rationality, in turn, requires freedom of thought. Sen uses the discipline of social choice theory (a subject he has helped to develop) to illuminate the demands of reason and the assessment of freedom. The latter is the subject matter of Sen's previously unpublished Arrow Lectures included here.
The essays in these volumes contribute to Sen's ongoing transformation of economic theory and social philosophy, and to our understanding of the connections among rationality, freedom, and social justice.
Review
Sen brings a hard-edged intellect to regions of thought usually regarded as slushy and amorphous...Anyone interested in the topics of freedom, equality, or justice would profit from a close reading of this book. New York Review of Books
Review
Sen's mastery in the fields of social choice, the foundations of welfare economics, and, more broadly, distributive ethics and the measurement problems associated with these fields is unquestioned. Kenneth J. Arrow
Review
Amartya Sen occupies a unique position among modern economists. He is an outstanding economic theorist, a world authority on social choice and welfare economics. He is a leading figure in development economics, carrying out pathbreaking work on appraising the effectiveness of investment in poor countries and, more recently, on famine. At the same time, he takes a broad view of the subject and has done much to widen the perspective of economists. A. B. Atkinson
Review
A work of striking intellectual ambition and unusual intellectual patience, tensely engaged in many different struggles and on a wide variety of levels. What it offers is not a set of simple and readily portable conclusions, or a means for reconciling the reader to a devastatingly imperfect historical world, but a sustained effort to clarify where the main imperfections come from, and what could, in principle, be done to alleviate them. Richard J. Arneson - American Political Science Review
Review
One of the most attractive qualities of Rationality and Freedom is an extraordinary intellectual good nature. Whenever he can express gratitude, Professor Sen does so; whenever he criticizes it is gently--and save on very rare occasions it is only after he has expressed his appreciation for the stimulus provided by the error he uncovers. It would be a poor return for what he offers us here to pretend that everything he writes is equally persuasive; for even when he is unpersuasive he provides intellectual pleasures that few writers can match. John Dunn - Times Higher Education Supplement
Review
Sen's arguments about social choice are important. The first chapter of the book offers a straightforward and comprehensive account of the social choice approach and this discussion is extended in the Nobel Lecture that forms the second chapter of the book
[I]t should be widely consulted by social development scholars who need to understand rational choice liberalism and its relevance to social development. Alan Ryan - New York Review of Books
Review
"A book with much relevance for students and scholars of social and public policy and, indeed, for anyone who wishes to understand more about the dominant paradigms of public policy."
Review
“A useful exploration of the differing approaches within the individualist tradition, bringing together discussion of the whole field of individualistic thought and public policy.”
Review
"Reclaiming individualism is fantastically interesting. It raids an enormous range from across disciplines, and is the product of some very hard thinking and some provocative analysis."
Review
“A most thorough exploration of a wide variety of issues related to ‘the individual’ as an idea in social policy discussion.”
Synopsis
Rationality and freedom are among the most profound and contentious concepts in philosophy and the social sciences. In two volumes on rationality, freedom, and justice, the distinguished economist and philosopher Amartya Sen brings clarity and insight to these difficult issues. This volume--the first of the two--is principally concerned with rationality and freedom.
Synopsis
Amartya Sen is Winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics
Synopsis
Amartya Sen is a 2011 National Humanities Medal Winner
Synopsis
Reclaiming Individualism reviews the scope of individualist approaches to public policy, considering how they shape contemporary policy practices. It argues for a concept of individualism based on rights, human dignity, shared interests, and social protection, providing a thorough analysis and classification of individualism as applied to social and public policy. An important resource for those working or studying in these fields, it is a powerful restatement of some of the key values that led to the establishment of individualism as such a strong social force.
About the Author
Paul Spicker is Grampian Chair of Public Policy at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and is the author of several books.
Table of Contents
List of tables and figures
About the authorIntroduction: Six impossible things before breakfast
Part One: Individualism
1.1 Individualism
Moral individualism
Methodological individualism
Substantive individualism
1.2 Individualism and collectivism
Individual and collective discourses
Part Two: The moral dimensions of individualism
2.1 Individual value and individual rights
Dignity, respect and rights
Individual rights
The equality of persons
2.2. Autonomy and self-determination
Choice
Self-development
2.3 Personal responsibility
Reward and punishment
Individualism and moral judgments
2.4 Possessive individualism
Property
Self-ownership
2.5 Individual welfare
Individualism and individual welfare
Part Three: Methodological individualism and rational self-interest
3.1 Utility and choice
Utility
Preference and choice
Choice and well-being
3.2 Self-interest
Incentives and motivation
3.3 Rationality
Indifference curves
The maximisation of utility
Some methodological problems
3.4 The Pareto principle
The problem in inequality
Part Four: Substantive policy
4.1 Choice and the market
How markets reconcile choices
The limits to markets
Market failure
4.2 More of the market: one solution for everything
Structural adjustment
The price mechanism
Rationing by price
4.3 Personalised services
Personalised approaches
Personalisation in practice
4.4 The individualisation of social policy
Part Five: Individuals and collective action
5.1 Individual and social choices
5.2 Collective action
Collective action and the individual
The tragedy of the commons
5.3 Solidarity and voluntary collective action
Social protection
Redistribution and solidarity
5.4 Public services
Non-market failure
Public services and the individual
Part Six: Government and public policy
6.1 The individual versus the state
The minimal state
The liberal state
6.2 The role of government
Democracy
The welfare state
6.3 The moral agenda
Translating moral purposes into practice
The objections to government action
6.4 Social policy and the individual
Reclaiming individualism: individualist public policies
Index
Index of names