GROUP SELECTION AND METHODOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALISM: COMPATIBLE AND COMPLEMENTARY

Abstract

Various authors allege that the theory of group selection is inconsistent with methodological individualism, and therefore analysts must reject at least one of these principles. The present article argues for their compatibility. The meaning of methodological individualism is clarified, and the new version of group selection (articulated by Wilson & Sober, 1994, 1998) is explained. The two principles are then incorporated into a single methodological approach. Group selection affects the assumptions made about the kind of individuals who populate social scientific models, while methodological individualism requires models’ conclusions to follow from the actions and interactions of those individuals.

Citation

Glen Whitman, D. (2005), "GROUP SELECTION AND METHODOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALISM: COMPATIBLE AND COMPLEMENTARY", Koppl, R. (Ed.) Evolutionary Psychology and Economic Theory (Advances in Austrian Economics, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 221-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2134(04)07010-3