In the latest development within academic publishing concerning philosophy, methodology, and Islamic economics, the book Economic Rationality, co-authored by Dr. Seyed Hadi Arabi, Dr. Hamidreza Maghsoudi, and Javad Arbab, has been published and made available to researchers and the scholarly community. This work represents a systematic, research-driven endeavor to re-examine, critique, and expand upon one of the most fundamental assumptions of conventional economics.
The concept of “Rationality” and its resultant behavioral model, Homo economicus, have consistently served as the central core and dominant paradigm in neoclassical and mainstream economics. However, the reduction of complex human behavior to a mere calculating machine focused on the maximization of personal and material interests has faced severe criticism for decades from institutionalist schools, behavioral economics, and approaches grounded in Islamic economics. Recognizing this theoretical gap, the authors of this scholarly work undertake an in-depth, critical examination of the concept of rationality from ontological and epistemological perspectives.
A salient academic feature of this book is its adoption of a comparative, critical, and interdisciplinary approach. The authors do not merely confine themselves to critiquing the reductionist approach of conventional economics; rather, by drawing upon the rich literature of Islamic economics and the insights of heterodox economic approaches, they strive to present a broader and more realistic framework of rationality. Within this novel analytical framework, ethical variables, altruistic preferences, the influence of social institutions, and value-based foundations are analyzed not as exogenous variables or behavioral anomalies, but as endogenous, systematic, and meaningful components of the economic agent’s decision-making mechanism.
In terms of its structural content, this academic work traces the evolutionary trajectory of the concept of rationality throughout the history of economic thought, analyzing the transition from classical models to modern Rational Choice Theory and the concept of “Bounded Rationality.” The focal point and scholarly contribution of the book lie in its transition from a merely descriptive critique to the establishment of normative foundations and the proposition of an alternative model. This alternative paradigm possesses the explanatory power to account for the complexities of the economic agent within an institutional context grounded in Islamic and indigenous values.
The publication of Economic Rationality is regarded as a significant step toward enriching the indigenous literature within the fields of economics and the philosophy of the social sciences. As a rigorous academic resource, this book is highly recommended for professors, researchers in Islamic economics, and graduate students in economics, economic sociology, and public policy, to enable them to examine the hidden presuppositions of economic models through a critical lens.
