Образ человека будущего, Том 7 (СИ)

For example, let us consider the criticism of Homo economicus by Peter Weise (German economist). Weise not only distinguishes human images in sociology and economic theory, but he is very categorical in his conclusions. Considering the image of man who meets the requirements of social sciences, Weise comes to the conclusion that Homo economicus and Homo sociologicus are special cases of Homo socioeconomicus, which can exist only in the world of equilibrium, but not in the world of disequilibrium. According to Weise, the concepts of Homo economicus and Homo sociologicus exist only as theoretical abstractions and no more [Weise, 1989: 160].

Here is another example of criticism of the concept of Homo economicus. A Swiss economist Bruno Frey notes that economics tends to become a branch of applied mathematics; the majority

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of all publications in professional journals and books are full of axioms, lemmas and proofs, and they are much concerned with purely formal deductions. However, Frey defends another point of view and believes that economics is a social science. Therefore, economics as a social science has every right to offer its concept of man or a model of human behavior. This model is slightly relevant to the concept of Homo economicus as consistently rational and narrowly self-interested agents, because this interpretation of the concept of Homo economicus are excessively formalized and torn away from real human behavior. Therefore, in his interpretation of the concept of economic man, Frey considers man not as an object-agent of theory, but as a subject of research and as a key structural element of social relations [Frey, 1992].

The interpretation of Homo economicus was criticized a lot, and deservedly. We wrote about this in our studies (e.g. Oleksenko"s studies [Oleksenko, 2013]). A comment about the concept of Homo economicus is presented, for example, in the studies of Bruno Frey [Frey, 1992], Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert [Rodriguez-Sickert, 2009], etc.

Analyzing the constructive criticism of the interpretation of Homo economicus, we come to the conclusion that, in fact, the criticism of Homo economicus not only refutes and denies the use of the concept, but gives new interpretations to it and expands the scope of application.

This applies, above all, to the expansion of the interpretation of the concept of Homo economicus due to achievements in the field of cognitive psychology and neurophilosophy. In this case, Homo economicus moves from the formal mathematical term to the domain model, projected and managed by educational practices. It becomes possible to apply to Homo economicus the formative forces, which, according to Protagoras, are the act of shaping the soul [Jaeger, 1946].

New interpretation in the concept of Homo economicus

In modern economic theories and game theory, Homo economicus is considered as consistently rational and narrowly self-interested agents who usually pursue their subjectively-defined ends optimally. Generally, homo economicus attempts to maximize utility as a consumer and profit as a producer. The modern interpretations of the concept of Homo economicus are considered, for example, in the works of Bruno Frey [Frey, 1992], Wolfgang Stroebe [Stroebe& Frey, 1980], Peter Weise [Weise, 1989], Richard H. Thaler [Thaler, 2000].

The basis for the modern interpretation of Homo economicus was formed in the paper "In Defense of Economic Man: Towards an Integration of Economics and Psychology" by Wolfgang Stroebe (Professor of Psychology) and Bruno S. Frey (Professor of Economics). Analyzing previous interpretation of Homo economicus in economic sciences, the authors came to an understanding that consideration of Homo economicus outside of psychology and its achievements in modern realities is incorrect. The main idea of the paper is "psychological man" who is a close relative of "Homo economicus" [Stroebe& Frey, 1980: 120].

Further developing the main ideas of his predecessors, in his paper "From Homo Economicus to Homo Sapiens" Richard Thaler argues that, for objective reasons, Homo economicus will become a slower learner [Thaler, 2000: 135-136].That is, unlike the classical interpretations which represent Homo economicus as a formal concept in economic theories, the modern interpretation of Homo economicus has changed qualitatively. We are talking about the possibility of learning Homo economicus and, accordingly, about the distinction of psychological properties in Homo economicus corresponding to Homo Sapiens [Thaler, 2000] or Homo Sociologicus [Weise, 1989].

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