Methodological Individualist
Methodological Individualism is a philosophical precept that privileges the Individual as sovereign. According to it, social phenomena can and must be explained as outcomes of individual behaviors and decisions. It denies collectives as autonomous decision-makers, and requires social sciences to ground their theory in individual action. The idea has been used to attack e.g. historicism, social class as a determinant of individual behavior, and the postmodern idea of social construction.
Methodological individualism is an essential part of modern Economics, which usually analyses collective action in terms of rational, utility maximizing individuals. This is the so called Homo economicus postulate. The structure and dynamics of most economic institutions can be explained using it.
In politics methodological individualism underlies Liberalism. Some methodological individualists claim that they have no political opinion - rather, that they are just rational and using common sense. Some radical feminist and postmodern critics have argued that 'rationality' is itself a typically male, Western construction, and that "common sense" varies among cultures. For example, common sense notions in the US, such as women's rights, are very different from those in Iran.
In science, methodological individualism can be used to claim an objective stance toward reality. Such claims have been criticised by postmodernists and feminists, amongst others.
Methodological individualism has also drawn varied philosophical critique, especially from sociologists such as Karl Marx.
A much neglected aspect of methodical individualism is the realisation that reality can only be experienced and mediated by an individual's consciousness.
Famous Methodological Individualists
