Jon Elster (born 1940) is a Norwegian social and political theorist who has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory. He is also a notable proponent of Analytical Marxism, and a critic of neoclassical economics and public choice theory, largely on behavioral and psychological grounds. Elster was a member of the September Group for many years but left in the early 90's. Elster previously held an endowed chairs at the University of Chicago and is Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences with appointments in Political Science and Philosophy at Columbia University. He was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize in 1997.

Selected Writings

• Logic and Society (New York, 1978)
• Ulysses and the Sirens (Cambridge, 1979)
• Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality (Cambridge, 1983)
• Explaining technical change : a case study in the philosophy of science (Oslo, 1983)
• Making Sense of Marx (Cambridge, 1985)
• An Introduction to Karl Marx (Cambridge, 1986)
• Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (Cambridge, UK, 1989)
• Strong Feelings: Emotion, addiction, and human behavior The Jean Nicod Lectures. (MIT press, 1997)
• Alchemies of the Mind: Rationality and the emotions (Cambridge, 1999)
• Ulysses Unbound: Studies in rationality, precommitment, and constraints (Cambridge, 2002)
• Closing the Books: Transitional justice in historical perspective (Cambridge, 2004)

See also

• G. A. Cohen
• John Roemer
• List of Jean Nicod Prize laureates

External links

• Elster page at Columbia

1940 births | Living people | Norwegian philosophers | 21st century philosophers | Political scientists

Jon Elster | Jon Elster | Jon Elster | Jon Elster