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Axiomatic Soul Searching

In: Arrow and the Foundations of the Theory of Economic Policy

Author

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  • Howard Raiffa

Abstract

I would like to think back to the three-year period bracketing the mid-point of this century from 1949 to 1951.1 was then a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Michigan. Not only did I learn about Arrow’s work at that time but it profoundly affected how I looked upon my newly adopted world of mathematics as applied to the behavioural sciences. Whenever I became confused about which side of a philosophical debate I should take, and there were plenty of such occasions, I would start thrashing about a bit at first but at some point in my frustrating deliberations I would say to myself, ‘Enough of this, it’s about time go get serious. Let me do some Arrow-type analysis’. By that I meant: keep an open mind; stop espousing positions; explore underlying basic principles of desirable behaviour; articulate those desidarata as axioms and investigate their consistency; and, if consistent, characterize the family of compatible solutions. This axiomatic type of thinking may be old hat to mathematicians but to me, 35 years ago, when applied to social phenomena and to the theory of choice behaviour, it was radically new and exciting.

Suggested Citation

  • Howard Raiffa, 1987. "Axiomatic Soul Searching," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: George R. Feiwel (ed.), Arrow and the Foundations of the Theory of Economic Policy, chapter 27, pages 672-677, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-07357-3_28
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-07357-3_28
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