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From Public Choice to Evolutionary Theory

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The Evolutionary Limits of Liberalism

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism ((PASTCL))

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Abstract

This chapter presents and discusses the key concepts and theoretical frameworks used throughout the book. The chapter begins by introducing public choice theory and by describing the main tenets of rational choice theory—the methodological basis of classical public choice. This second chapter focuses on the standard public choice assumptions that underpin the methodological comparison of preference satisfaction in markets and politics, such as the parity of assumptions, uniformity of behavioural motivation and rational self-interest/egoism. It also introduces the evolutionary model of multilevel selection and reviews the classical public choice theory assumptions from this evolutionary perspective. Lastly, the chapter discusses the meaning of important concepts for the book, like preferences, evolutionary fitness, self-interest and morality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nova University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Filipe Nobre Faria

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  1. Filipe Nobre Faria
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Faria, F.N. (2019). From Public Choice to Evolutionary Theory. In: The Evolutionary Limits of Liberalism. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31496-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31496-5_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31495-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31496-5

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

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