THE HERMENEUTICS OF EDUCATIONAL CHOICE

Abstract

Part 1: Rival Theories Compared Economics is, in the Robbinsian definition, the science of choice. Economic models of choice are metaphors, encapsulating in abstract figures (lexical or mathematical), the elements of a unique relationship between ends and means. In the view of Austrian economists, this relationship is essentially fictional: It is constructed by the chooser in the moment of choice and embodies his momentary valuation of a particular course of action, seemingly feasible, seemingly the one thing necessary for the enjoyment of some imagined rewards, and seeming to require the surrender of resources deemed in that moment to be at the chooser's disposal. Choice is a subjective affair. It is also, in a sense which may be unique and proper to each actor, an affair fraught with novelty, originality, and the inescapable drive to realise the best of what is apparently possible. Choosers maximise differently and in their own way.

Citation

Strain, M. (1989), "THE HERMENEUTICS OF EDUCATIONAL CHOICE", Humanomics, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 21-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb006094