Korkotsides (economics, U. of Athens, Greece) presents an ambitious project to rigorously debunk the mainstream economic concepts of utility, value and self-interest, while trying to outline an
alternative theory of consumer behavior that is ＂life-based.＂ Part one presents his critique, which first focuses on the concept of utility itself, but moves to re-situate how we think of
consumption as inherently social. This becomes a more philosophical exploration of how we value things not by the satisfaction of individual desires abstracted from our lives lived in
association. Korkotsides is nonetheless concerned with a theory of economic behavior and organization, which leads him to consider Marx’s own life-affirming interventions in the economic
theories of his day. The second part turns to analytics and is decidedly more formal and mathematical in its approach to these issues, considering steady state, system dynamics, graphical
depictions, exchange values and power. An epilogue offers another philosophical exegesis of the challenges of promoting a life-based approach to economics that draws on continental philosophers
like Slavoj Zizek and Martin Heidegger. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
