This review essay discusses the attempts of four books to surpass traditional disciplinary borders and address a basic question across the social sciences: What motivational forces guide human behaviour, and how do these forces affect and how are they affected by, the dynamics of social cooperation and collective action? Even though the books adopt different theoretical and methodological perspectives for examining this question, they all challenge the univalent and decontextualized economic (self-interested) view of human motivation, supporting interdisciplinarity and a multidimensional and contextualized view of human motivation.
L’article examine la tentative de quatre livres de dépasser les limites traditionnelles des différentes disciplines et posent une question fondamentale à l’ensemble des sciences sociales: Quelles sont les motivations qui guident le comportement humain, comment ces motivations influent-elles sur la dynamique de la coopération sociale et de l’action collective et comment, a leur tour, sont-elles influencées par cette dynamique? Ces livres adoptent des points de vue théoriques et méthodologiques différents pour examiner la question; néanmoins ils contestent tous l’opinion ignorante du contexte et univalente selon laquelle la motivation de l’être humain serait uniquement économique (et intéressée); de même, tous soutiennent une approche tenant compte du contexte, interdisciplinaire et multidimensionnelle.
La presente crítica discute cuatro libros que elaboran la perspectiva interdisciplinaria en el estudio de una de las preguntas básicas en las ciencias sociales: ¿Que fuerzas de motivación guían el comportamiento humano y en qué forma afectan estas fuerzas la dinámica de cooperación social? A pesar de que estos libros adoptan diferentes perspectivas teóricas y metodológicas al examinar esta pregunta, todos cuestionan el punto de vista económico según el cual la motivación humana es básicamente guiada por el interés personal, y promueven un marco multidimensional y contextual para examinar el tema.
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