Abstract
This comment on Professor Etzioni's essay consists of three parts. First, it suggests that much of the evidence he describes, both for and against the rationality hypothesis, is much weaker than it appears. Second, it discusses some additional evidence that poses difficulty for the narrow rationalist view. Finally, it examines Etzioni's “caring and sharing” evidence, which poses the sharpest challenge of all to the rationalists. It suggests that although “caring and sharing” is indeed irrational by the conventional standard, there are good reasons why someone who is purely self-interested might wish to become a caring and sharing person. To be such a person, it argues, is to be “shrewdly irrational.”
Similar content being viewed by others
References
1975 “Specious reward: A behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control.” Psychological Bulletin 21:485–489.
1982 “A behavioral economic approach to the defense mechanisms: Freud's energy theory revisited.” Social Science Information 21:735–779.
Ainslie, George andV. Haendel 1982 “The motive of the will.” In E. Gottheil, A. McLennan, and K. Druley (eds.), Etiologies of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Springfield, NJ: Thomas.
Ainslie, George andRichard Herrnstein 1981 “Preference reversal and delayed reinforcement.” Animal Learning and Behavior 9:476–482.
Axelrod, Robert 1984 The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.
Baum, W. andH. Rachlin 1969 “Choice as time allocation.” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 27:453–467.
Chung, Shin-Ho andRichard Herrnstein 1967 “Choice and delay of reinforcement.” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 10:67–74.
Cook, Philip 1982 “Alcohol addiction.” Unpublished paper, Duke University.
Cook, Philip andGeorge Tauchen 1982 “The effect of liquor taxes on heavy drinking.” Bell Journal of Economics 13:379–390.
Darwin, Charles 1965 The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. (1872) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dawes, Robyn 1980 “Social dilemmas.” Annual Review of Psychology 31:69–93.
Ekman, Paul 1985 Telling Lies. New York: Norton.
1979 Ulysses and the Sirens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1985 “Weakness of will and the free-rider problem.” Economics and Philosophy 1:231–265.
Etzioni, Amitai 1987 “How rational we?” Sociological Forum 2:1.
1985a Choosing the Right Pond. New York: Oxford University Press.
Frank, Robert H. 1985b “Ifhomo economicus could choose his own utility function, would he want one with a conscience?” Department of Economics working paper, Cornell University.
1986a “The nature of the utility function.” In A. MacFadyen and H. MacFadyen (eds.), Economic Psychology. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Frank, Robert H. 1986b Passions Within Reason: Prisoner's Dilemmas and the Strategic Role of the Emotions. Unpublished monograph.
Guth, Werner, Rolf Schmittberger, andBernd Schwarze 1982 “An experimental analysis of ultimatim bargaining.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 3:367–388.
Hamilton, W. D. 1964 “The genetical theory of social behavior.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–32.
Herrnstein, Richard 1970 “On the law of effect.” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of behavior 13:242–260.
1977 “Economics from a biological viewpoint.” Journal of Law and Economics XX (April):1–52.
1978 “Natural economy versus political economy.” Journal of Social Biology 1:319–337.
1984 “The emotions as guarantors of threats and promises.” Department of Economics working paper, University of California, Los Angeles.
Kahneman, Daniel, Jack Knetsch, and Richard Thaler 1986 “Fairness and the assumptions of economics.” Journal of Business, in press.
Lumsden, Charles andEdward O. Wilson 1981 Genes, Mind, and Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lykken, David T. 1981 A Tremor in the Blood. New York: McGraw Hill.
McAdams, D. P. 1982 “Intimacy motivation.” In A. Stewart (ed.), Motivation and Society. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
McClelland, David 1986 “Some reflections on the two psychologies of love.” Journal of Personality 54:324–353.
Mello, Nancy 1972 “Behavioral studies of alcoholism.” In B. Kissin and K. Begleiter (eds.), The Biology of Alcoholism, vol. 2. New York: Plenum.
Murstein, B., M. Cerreto, andM. MacDonald 1977 “A theory and investigation of the effects of exchange orientation on marriage and friendship.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 39:543–548.
Parfit, Derek 1984 Reasons and Persons. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
Pattison E., M. Sobell, andL. Sobell 1977 Emerging Concepts of Alcohol Dependence. New York: Springer.
Rubin, Paul 1979 “An evolutionary model of taste for risk.” Economic Inquiry 17:585–596.
Scitovsky, Tibor 1976 The Joyless Economy. New York: Oxford University Press.
1960 The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
1978 “Altruism, meanness, and other potentially strategic behaviors.” American Economic Review 68 (May):229–230.
1980 “The intimate contest for self-command.” The Public Interest 60:94–118.
Smith, Adam 1976 A Theory of Moral Sentiments. (1759) Oxford: Clarendon.
Solnick, J., C. Kannenberg, D. Eckerman, andM. Waller 1980 “An experimental analysis of impulsivity and impulse control in humans.” Learning and Motivation 11:61–77.
Thaler, R. andH. Shefrin 1981 “An economic theory of self-control.” Journal of Political Economy 89:392–405.
Trivers, Robert L. 1971 “The evolution of reciprocal altruism” Quarterly Review of Biology 46:35–57.
Winston, Gordon 1980 “Addiction and backsliding: A theory of compulsive consumption.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 1:295–394.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Frank, R.H. Shrewdly irrational. Sociol Forum 2, 21–41 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01107892
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01107892