ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Gary Stanley Becker's proposed method for studying human behaviour. Becker's method of analysis is based on a precise characterization of economic behaviour, which can be summed up as ‘assuming behavior is forward-looking and consistent over time’. In other words, with the theoretical basis constituted by the assumptions of maximizing behaviour, market equilibrium and the stability of preferences depending on the extended utility function, Becker proposes the study of every human act from the starting point of homo economicus. It is true that Becker is a positivist, but saying that is not enough to understand his scientific pretensions. The best way to understand him is through his acknowledged master, Milton Friedman. In all his proposed scientific schemes, Becker takes Friedman's position to its ultimate consequences. Becker's work is the utilization of Friedman's methodology in order to extend the neoclassical model.
