2009 marks the centenary of methodological individualism (MI). The phrase was first used in English in a 1909 QJE paper by Joseph Schumpeter. Yet after 100 years there is considerable confusion as to what the phrase means. MI is often invoked as a fundamental description of the methodology both of neoclassical and Austrian economics, as well as other approaches, from New Keynesianism to analyti...

This article asserts that traditionally dominant models of health promotion in the US are fairly characterized by methodological individualism. This schema produces a focus on the individual as the node of intervention. Such emphasis results in a number of scientific and ethical problems. I identify three principal ethical deficiencies: first, the health promotions used are generally ineffectiv...

Abstract Methodological individualists often claim that any social phenomenon can ultimately be explained in terms of the actions and interactions individuals. Any Nagelian version methodological individualism requires there bridge laws translate statements into individualistic ones. We show put to logical scrutiny by making relevant languages fully explicit mathematically precise. In particula...

BACKGROUND Smoking of tobacco is estimated to have caused approximately six million deaths worldwide in 2014. Responding effectively to this epidemic requires a thorough understanding of how smoking behaviour is transmitted and modified. METHODS We present a new mathematical model of the social dynamics that cause cigarette smoking to spread in a population, incorporating aspects of individua...

Researchers have very limited understanding of how continuous usage intention of social media (SM) are associated with online benign envy and individual-level culture. This paper addresses this gap and provides a theoretical framework to illustrate how manifestations of national cultural values at the individual level of analysis may influence SM use behaviors through online envy. We argue that...

The purpose of this project is to formulate the theoretical fundamentals of an economic philosophy that is understood as a component of a practically oriented social philosophy. I start by recapitulating the major critiques of the traditional framework of economic theory, in particular of the concepts of rational choice and 'methodological individualism'. The limited scope of these concepts for...

This article focuses on emergence in social systems. The author begins by proposing a new tool to explore the mechanisms of social emergence: multi agent–based computer simulation. He then draws on philosophy of mind to develop an account of social emergence that raises potential problems for the methodological individualism of both social mechanism and of multi agent simulation. He then draws ...

In this article, I attempt to address some enduring problems in formulation and practical use of the notion of structure in contemporary social science. I begin by revisiting the question of the fidelity of Anthony Giddens’ appropriation of the idea of structure with respect to Levi-Strauss. This requires a reconsideration of Levi-Strauss’ original conceptualization of “social structure” which ...