Pat, I think John Davis raised the more important challenge to neoclassical economists who insist on strict methodological individualism. Put in my terms, the question is, is the neoclassical conception of an autonomous and completely independent individual realistic? As I have argued, neoclassical economists see methodological individualism successful only when an argument is reduced to there being an individual's psychological state as the only allowable exogenous variable (other than Nature given weather, etc.). Everything else must be endogenous. I challenge my students by having them read Ibsen plays, for example, where the individual is defined by the social situation. Nora in the Doll's House is a perfect example. If John's challenge is right (and I think it is), there then remains the key question. Why do neoclassical economists insist on the extreme version of methodological individualism? Lawrence Boland