In a long tradition in economics the individual self is conceived
as risk-averse. This is for no better reason than that the theory
of rational choice assumes that the individual will always choose
according to his own self-interest, and that so choosing is the
essence of rational behaviour. At the same time the theory gives
no guidance for knowing how that interest is conceived. The
thesis here to be proposed is that the self is risk-taking or riskaverse according to a predictable pattern of dealings between the
person and others in the community. Both emerge, the community and the person's self, as ready for particular risks or as
averse to them, in the course of their interactions. The person
who never thought of himself as a risk-taker, in the unfolding of
the drama of his personal life, and under the threat of the community's censure, finds himself declaring a commitment to high
risk.
