In his 1871 book, Jevons explained the exchange of commodities between
individuals as their choices for utility maximization. While his explanation
provided the price theory with a micro-foundation, it also revealed theoretic
conflicts between personal choices and social phenomena. Jevons’s attempts to
resolve the conflicts, which the present paper critically examines, are rather
confusing. This examination is intended for a better understanding of the
exchange theory of Jevons and the later developments of price theory.