We have been asked to examine the individualism-holism dichotomy within economics. We pursue this examination by probing the contours of several dichotomies that recur throughout the resulting debates over method. The primary dichotomy concerns whether society is properly an analytical object...

In his General Theory, J. M. Keynes juxtaposed animal spirits and rational action. This juxtaposition created a bifurcation within economic theory. When animal spirits were quiet, societies were dominated by the rationality associated with classical economics. But when those spirits raged, those...