Question

Briefly identify the basic motives economic theorists conventionally assume when attempting to explain human behavior. (I.e., describe homo economicus.)

Now differentiate this “economic” explanation of behavior from theories developed by the following groups of thinkers: (a) sociologists. (b) medieval scholastics. (c) evolutionary biologists.

Answer 1

The homo economics is an approach that identifies human being as a rational person that works with the scarce resources with rational thinking to fulfil their optimal needs & wants.

While fulfilling the needs, the human being is a person with self-interest and accordingly, he or she performs an activity. If he is a consumer, then he or she wants to maximize the utility by applying the marginal principles.

If a human being is a producer, then he or she wants to maximize the profit.

These objectives are fulfilled using a rational approach of making a decision.

So, the basic motives assumed by the economic theorists are as follows:

1. The motive to maximize the utility my efficient utilization of resources

2. The motive to earn profit by using factors of production

3. The motive to fulfill the different physiological, safety and psychological needs by evaluating different alternatives and subsequent consumption.

a) Socioligists:

In economics and marketing, product differentiation (or simplydifferentiation) is the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market.This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as a firm's own products.According to functionalism, sociologists can explain social structures and social behavior in terms of the components of a society and their functions. Auguste Comte helped develop functionalism in the 19th century, and functionalist Emile Durkheim later compared society to the human body.

b) Medieval Scholastics:

The term "schoolmen" is also commonly used to describe scholastics. Scholasticism is best known for its application in medieval Christian theology, especially in attempts to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers (particularly Aristotle) with Christian theology.

c) Evolutionary:

Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies theevolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth, starting from a single common ancestor. These processes include natural selection, common descent, and speciation.