The problem of social order: Egoism or autonomy?

Abstract

Individual rationality sometimes leads to collectively irrational outcomes, a fundamental problem in the social and life sciences that has attracted sustained attention from experimentalists in sociology, psychology, biology, and economics. But what is it about individual rationality that sometimes gets us into trouble? Is the problem the egoistic pursuit of individual self-interest? Or does the problem with individual rationality lie elsewhere? To find an answer, this chapter closely examines the theoretical and experimental literature on social dilemmas, to see how researchers identify the source of the problem. The review suggests that the prevailing theory wrongly points to egoism as the problem. Failing to do what is best for everyone can also happen among rational altruists, and sometimes egoism is needed to prevent it. The chapter concludes by pointing to what we believe is the fundamental problem – a tension not between individual self-interest and collective welfare, but between individual autonomy and collective interdependence.

Citation

van de Rijt, A. and Macy, M.W. (2009), "The problem of social order: Egoism or autonomy?", Thye, S.R. and Lawler, E.J. (Ed.) Altruism and Prosocial Behavior in Groups (Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 26), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0882-6145(2009)0000026005