ABSTRACT
If society is conceptualized in terms of equilibrium states and with any such state reducible to an average or representative individual, it is necessary to work with a deterministic model of individual choice. Within this conceptual framework, a deterministic treatment of individual choice as maximizing utility subject to a budget constraint supports a treatment of society as an equilibrium relationship among individuals. The closed model of utility maximization (U-max) accommodates an analytical emphasis on the prediction of event regularities. The treatment of individual action as closed and mechanistic, moreover, fits comfortably within the neo-Walrasian orientation of society as a closed and mechanistic equilibrium wherein people are whipped into line by the confluence of their utility functions and a market mechanism.
