Does homo economicus really exist? Has neoclassical economics brought its utility-maximizing agent into reality?

Michel Callon has argued that homo economicus, the utility-maximizing agent of neoclassical economics, does exist, thanks to economics. Some authors have endorsed this thesis. This paper maintains that the use of whatever aspects of neoclassical economics cannot bring that agent into existence, except in very specific situations of limited relevance. First, some assumptions behind the utility maximization hypothesis violate essential features of the nature of both any capitalist economy and its inhabitants. Second, the influence of neoclassical economics cannot eliminate these characteristics. Moreover, the utility-maximizing agent does not need to calculate and therefore does not need the help of material devices incorporating neoclassical economics. The influence of neoclassical economics generates and helps reproduce conventions and social norms inside and outside academia. However, neoclassical economics cannot make agents behave in accordance with essentially unrealistic behavioral assumptions. At most, some components of the utility maximization hypothesis can be actualized.