On the Homo Œconomicus Model of Rationality

The study intends to deliver a logical analysis of the well-known (and too much used) model of rationality named homo œconomicus. To this end, it is put into evidence the reductionism of the model (more, its cartesianism and mechanicism), by logically assessing the basic principle and the axioms and, also, the relaxations introduced over time. The paper gets the conclusion that economists tried successively to save the homo œconomicus model over time, but all these attempts did nothing but block the developments of the economic theory. Finally, the research organizes into a diachronic matrix the different ways in which economists actualized the genuine model in order to put it in line with the actual behaviour of the economic subject.