Abstract
It is a crucial assumption of economic theory that individuals make decisions by maximizing an objective (i.e. preference-representing) function under specified constraints. This decision-theoretic model has been subjected to strong empirical criticism on the grounds that it lacks psychological realism and does not fit well with known data on individual decision-making (e.g. Lester, 1945, Simon, 1959 and 1979). A related, methodological rather than empirical, strand of criticism emphasizes the barrenness of an approach that discards the cognitive and deliberative import of decisions as scientifically irrelevant and can more or less trivially be reconciled with any known observable behaviour (e.g. Simon, 1976, Latsis, 1976). Finally, there is a logical critique of optimization which is not as well developped in the technical literature. This paper aims at making it more precise.
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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
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Mongin, P., Walliser, B. (1988). Infinite Regressions in the Optimizing Theory of Decision. In: Munier, B.R. (eds) Risk, Decision and Rationality. Theory and Decision Library, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4019-2_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4019-2_24
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