At 22:00 29/07/2006, you wrote:
From: Michael Perelman
The NC school often does refer to Darwinistic ideas -- not necessarily
social darwinism -- to explain how competition works. Firms do not
know they are maximizing, but those that do are selected for survival
...
This line is used when people point out that the theory makes
assumptions that are ridiculous. I don't know if anyone pushed this
idea before Friedman.
On 7/29/06, Charles Brown wrote:
CB: Yes, that's the type of thing I'm thinking about. "Darwinist" ideas in
the above social, non-biological context is social darwinist.
there's a whole field of "evolutionary game theory" which has a
certain Darwinist tinge without being social Darwinist. Some old
radical econmists (Herb Gintis, Sam Bowles) are into it.
Oddly I started thinking about this based on a critique of Nietzsche as
deriving an atheist philosophy that is propaganda for the ruling classes
based on social darwinist notions of the supermen/ruling class being more
naturally fit rather than chosen by God. Social darwinism is a broad atheist
counter-Marxist movement in bourgeois intellectualdom.
I don't think Nietzsche was a social Darwinist. It's more a matter of
feudal ideas of superiority.
Also, social Darwinism doesn't have to be atheist. It seems to me that
social Darwinism can be merged with Calvinist ideas about financial
success as being a symptom of God's grace. And there are a bunch of
Protestants who like free market ideology.
But also, the capitalists are atheistic in essential function qua
capitalists. NC is a bourgeois atheist discipline ( so to speak, as it
were). This makes me wonder if it participates in the broad social
darwininst paradigm.
NC isn't truly atheistic. They believe in the Invisible Hand (a.k.a.,
the Auctioneer).
--
Jim Devine / "... the greatest bulwark of capitalism is militarism."
-- Emma Goldman.
