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As well as being accused of being committed to reductionism, methodological individualism has been criticized because it has been considered to be tantamount to a utilitarian theory of action. According to utilitarianism (and specifically according to the most recent version of it, namely the rational choice model), action is always based on instrumental rationality and on the attempt to maximize subjective utility on the basis of expected consequences (see Demeulenaere 1996, 2003; Boudon 2001, p. 42; Oliverio 2007, pp. 27 ff.). Because methodological individualism is confused with utilitarianism, it has been criticized on the grounds that many actions cannot be explained in utilitarian terms, and that utilitarianism is unable to decipher a great number of relevant social phenomena. However, the equivalence between methodological individualism and utilitarianism does not hold. While it is true that some methodological individualists endorse a utilitarian theory of action (e.g. Becker 1976), other advocates of this approach, such as Hayek, do not. The individualist tradition is informed by a wealth of perspectives. Because of the impossibility of explaining all human beliefs in utilitarian terms, the tendency to regard methodological individualism as being based on utilitarianism paves the way to an objectivistic approach to social research. It legitimates the idea that many collective beliefs can only be explained in holistic terms, i.e. as the products of a socio-cultural determinism.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-19512-4_5

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