ABSTRACT
Investigating the role of human nature in modern economics, the book is built around the thesis (particularised in three hypotheses) that the concepts of human nature created within new heterodoxy are of significance to modern economics and influence changes occurring within the science. It demonstrates that our understanding of economics is determined by our view of human nature, reflected in the definitions, objective, scope and methodology of economics. The analysis of differences between various assumptions about human nature is based on the designed meta-model of human nature, focusing on its dimensions (ontological, social, individual) and levels (the body, the soul, the mind). The examination covers selected branches of heterodox economics (ecological, evolutionary, behavioural, feminist and humanistic economics) and the orthodox, neoclassical understanding of human nature. The changes observed in the heterodox views may lead to an eclectic modification or a paradigm shift in economics – a new understanding of its objective, scope and methodology. Another solution could be interested pluralism – the co-existence of different concepts and ways of explaining economic facts. The book also proves that the adopted assumptions about human nature reflect changes in colloquial views of human nature, economic and cultural trends, philosophical ideas and knowledge.
