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For many years, the term methodological individualism was associated primarily with the work of Karl Popper.
For both Hayek and Popper, the primary motivation for respecting the precepts of methodological individualism was to avoid "grand theory" in the style of Auguste Comte, G.W.F.
The primary methodological goal, among social scientists, for adopting a commitment to methodological individualism was to caution against certain fallacies (ones that were quite common in 19th century social science).
In other words, Popper's "methodological individualism" was actually a claim about what the world "really" consisted of, little more than a fancy way of saying "there is no such thing as society".
Similar(56)
The key characteristic of methodological individualism is that it "systematically starts from the concepts which guide individuals in their actions and not from the results of their theorizing about their actions" (1942, 286).
In the philosophy of mind, the phrase "methodological individualism" is commonly associated with a claim made by Jerry Fodor concerning the individuation of psychological states (1980 , 1987 42).
Methodological individualism is of the essence.
One problem with methodological individualism is that it is radically revisionary, for biology at least.
The problem that this creates for the doctrine of methodological individualism is readily apparent.
Thus the "individualism" in methodological individualism is more a byproduct of its central theoretical commitment than a motivating factor.
This view, often referred to as methodological individualism, is in my view trivially true" (Elster, 1989, 13).
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