In defence of revealed preference theory

This paper defends revealed preference theory against a pervasive line of criti- cism, according to which revealed preference methodology relies on appealing to some mental states, in particular an agent's beliefs, rendering the project incoherent or un- motivated. I argue that all that is established by these arguments is that revealed preference theorists must accept a limited mentalism in their account of the options an agent is modelled as choosing between. This is consistent both with an essen- tially behavioural interpretation of preference and with standard revealed preference methodology, and does not undermine the core motivations of revealed preference theory.