BEYOND RATIONALISM: THE ROLE OF VALUES AND EMOTIONS IN AN ISLAMIC ECONOMY

Are men and women akin to single‐minded, “cold” calculators, each out to maximize his or her own well‐beings? Are humans able to figure out rationally the most efficient way to realize their goals? Is society mainly a market place, in which self‐serving individuals compete with one‐another‐at work in politics and in courtship enhancing the general welfare in the process? Assuming human beings see themselves both as members of a community and as self‐serving individuals, how are the lines drawn between the commitments to the commons and to one's self? we are now in the middle of a paradigmatic struggle. Challenged is the entrenched utilitarian, rationalistic — individualistic, neoclassical paradigm which is applied not merely to the economy but also, increasingly, to the full array of social relations, from crime to family. One main challenger is a social‐conservative paradigm that sees individuals as morally deficient and often irrational, hence requiring a strong authority to control their impulses, direct their endeavors, and maintain order (Etzioni, 1988).