Suchergebnisse

FOLLOWING A DETAILED INTRODUCTION BY THE TRANSLATOR, A PRESENTATION OF MAX WEBER'S TREATISE IS GIVEN. ECONOMIC THEORY, WITH EMPHASIS ON MARGINAL UTILITY ANALYSIS, IS NOT DEPENDENT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL THEOREMS, PRINCIPLES, OR CONCEPTS. RATHER, IT IS VIEWED AS AN ENTERPRISE DEDICATED TO WORKING OUT CONSEQUENCES OF THE ASSUMPTIONS OF ECONOMIC RATIONALITY IN ANALYTICAL TERMS, NOT IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ONES. THE CONCEPT 'OPTIMUM', CANNOT BE REGARDED AS SPECIFICALLY PSYCHOLOGICAL, PSYCHOPHYSICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, OR BIOLOGICAL. RATHER, IT IS PARTNER TO VARIOUS PROBLEMS WHICH DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS. WHEN VIEWED IN THIS MANNER, IT IS CLEAR THAT THIS CONCEPT DOES NOT MARK OUT MARGINAL UTILITY THEORY. SOME HAVE USED IT AS A SPECIAL CASE TO ILLUSTRATE THE WEBER-FECHNER LAW. AS THE WEBER-FECHNER LAW PROVIDES THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR MARGINAL UTILITY THEORY, IT CANNOT BE SEEN AS INCLUSIVE OF THE CONCEPT OF OPTIMUM. 'OPTIMUM' HAS CERTAIN ASPECTS IN COMMON WITH THE PHYSIOLOGICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH & MAY HAVE PEDAGOGICAL VALUE BUT CANNOT BE RESTRICTED TO THE WEBER-FECHNER LAW. B. WEISBROD.