Homo economicus

English

Alternative forms

• homo economicus
• homo oeconomicus

Etymology

Pseudo-taxonomic name; compare Homo sapiens. The earlier term "Economic Man" was used for the first time in the late nineteenth century by critics of John Stuart Mill's work on political economy.

Proper noun

Homo economicus

1. (economics) A human being regarded as a rational and narrowly self-interested actor capable of making judgments in order to attain its own particular goals.

Synonyms

• economic human
• economic man

Coordinate terms

• Homo reciprocans

Related terms

• Homo idioticus
• homo negronus
• homo sovieticus
• Homo superior, Homo superioris

Translations

human being

• Italian: homo oeconomicus (it)

See also

• rational choice theory
• rational egoism