ABSTRACT
This is a book about our understanding of the individual in economics. The concept of the individual is one of the most fundamental in contemporary society. It may even be the most fundamental of all our concepts. We cannot understand the historical evolution of political systems in terms of democracy, freedom, and human rights, the development of knowledge and science, and the quality and meaning of life without recognizing the centrality of the individual to our thinking. Human society could conceivably have developed differently in this regard. However, one thing we can know with certainty at this point in history is that individuality is a fundamental preoccupation of contemporary human society.
