In an EconoLog post 10 months ago, I commented: wall street journal Yahya Sinwar reports that he understands the “spirit of Israel” after spending nearly 20 years in prison. He was the leader of Hamas, who is said to have planned an operation on October 7, 2023 that massacred 1,200 Israelis and took 220 people, most of them civilians, hostage. I suggested that if we were going to organize something like that, we should rather understand methodological individualism. Rather than focusing on an imaginary collective psychology (‘Methodological individualism and the rulers of HamasDecember 14, 2023). I wrote:
If Hamas ruler Yahya Sinwar had learned methodological individualism, things would have been different. He might have been seduced by a broader philosophy of individualism and treated “his” people in Gaza better, such as not using them as human shields or spending public money on tunnels. But even if he knew that methodological Being an individualist, his life may not be in danger for now.
Methodological individualism is essential for understanding social groups (e.g. Israeli society) and organizations (Israeli government). The other party’s (and Iran’s) political motives are likely to result in a coercive military response, which would be detrimental to the poor Ghazians and himself. It was uncertain whether the response would respect appropriate moral constraints on civilians. Although that may not have been part of the terrorist concerns, it should be part of us. Shinwar, who later became the supreme leader of Hamas, killed by IDF on Wednesday.
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Yahya Sinwar’s surreal and ironic vision of the nation
