Desde Viena a Chicago: a nova psicologia

Abstract

This study presents a critical appreciation of Behavioral Economics, which is a discursive unit that emerged in the US from the dialogue between Neoliberal Economic Theory and Behavioral Psychology in the 1970s. From a methodological point of view, this research is a genealogy (FOUCAULT, 1995), which consists, summarily, in investigating and reconstructing the historical-political conditions that allowed the emergence of a highlighted discursive realm. The genealogy presented in this work consisted in analyzing the epistemic-political displacement of neoliberal reflection on human behavior until its culmination: the creation of a new discipline, namely, Behavioral Economics. The analysis begins with the following works. Principles of Political Economy (MENGER, 1983); Human Action – a treatise on economics (MISES, 1995); O Caminho da Servidão or The Path of Slavery (HAYEK, 2010) and Economy and Knowledge (HAYEK, 2019). The idea is to trace the epistemicpolitical path that created adequate conditions for the discipline of Behavioral Economics to become an emancipated discursive field. Once this broader analysis has been carried out, the research problematizes the theoretical-methodological foundations of Behavioral Economics through the following works: Nudge – how to make better decisions about health, money and happiness (THALER, 2008); Misbehaving – the construction of the Behavioral Economy (THALER, 2015); Fast & Slow – two ways of thinking (KAHNEMAN, 2008); Noise – a flaw in human judgment (KAHNEMAN, 2021). The relevance of this Thesis lies in its contribution to the Philosophy of Education, especially with regard to the reflection on neoliberal education.