经济人假设如何成为现代经济学的基石:历史背景和内在逻辑

How the Assumption of Economic Man Becomes the Footstone of Modern Economics:Historical Background and Inherent Logic

经济人假设在经济学中的支配地位显示了历史的、逻辑的一致性。首先,资本主义物质文明的膨胀使得人们对物质的追求上升到欲求层次,从而产生资源的稀缺性与欲望的无穷性之间的紧张,以致经济学转向了资源配置的研究;其次,货币拜物教式的金钱理性之崛起为经济人假设披上了理性的外衣和逻辑上的合理性,并将古典经济学强调的"自利"和"理性"蜕变为现代主流经济学的"自私"和"工具理性";最后,形式逻辑的兴起将丰富多样的追求转变为可量化的效用单位,并在此基础上开始兴建基于理性的数理模型。

The ascendancy of assumption of economic-man in economics shows historical and logical consistency. First, the flation of physical civilization in capitalism promotes people＇s needs for material to the level of wants, which gives rise to the tension between the scarcity of resource and inexhaustibility of wants. As a result, economics swerves to the research on the allocation of resource. Secondly, the grow-up of fetishism money rationality endues the assuption of economic-man with rational overclothes and logical rationality, and turns the ＂self-interest＂ and ＂rationality＂ in classical economics into ＂egoism＂ and ＂means rationality＂ in modern economics. Finaly, the rising of formal logic changes profuse needs into measurable unity of utility, and plentiful mathematical models are built on it.