Jon Elster
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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 earned his PhD from the Sorbonne in Paris with a dissertation on Leibniz under the direction of Raymond Aron. Elster was a member of the September Group for many years but left in the early 1990s. Elster previously taught at the University of Oslo in the department of history and held an endowed chairs at the University of Chicago, teaching in the departments of philosophy and political science. He is now Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences with appointments in Political Science and Philosophy at Columbia University and professeur attaché at the Collège de France. He was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize in 1997.
He is the son of journalist/author Torolf Elster and poet Magli Elster.
Elster often uses economic theory as a springboard for philosophical and ethical analysis, and his books are full of examples from literature. "Rational choice theory is far more than a technical tool for explaining behaviour. It is also, and very importantly, a way of coming to grips with ourselves - not only what we should do, but even what we should be." Jon Elster, Some unresolved problems in the theory of rational behaviour, Acta Sociologica (1993), vol 36, p 179
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[edit] Choice model
In his book "Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences", Elster considers actors from a methodological individualist perspective. His view on actors' choices (p. 13) may be summed up as follows:
Step 1: Desires. Without desires, there is no reason to act.
Step 2: Abstract opportunity set. All possible action.
Step 3: Filter 1: Constraints. Physical, economic, legal and psychological obstacles blocking certain decisions.
Step 4: Opportunity set. Real opportunities realized by the actor, and also false opportunities seen as possible by the actor.
Step 5: Filter 2: Mechanisms. Rationality, Social Norm Behaviour, Satisificing and other types of behaviour.
[edit] Rational Choice mechanism
Elster's definition of rational choice is highly sensitive to Constructivist critique of other definitions: It assumes desires as the prime mover, and doesn't judge certain original desires to be rational or irrational. Also, importantly, Elster sees this "desire-based rationality" as one of many possible mechanisms. Furthermore, he sees rationality as confounded by a huge amount of problems like indeterminacy and incommensurability - factors that make rational action impossible, and may lead to following other mechanisms.
Step 1: Desires.
Step 2A: Evidence gathering. Attempting to seek out what opportunities are present.
Step 2B: Beliefs. Following evidence gathering, beliefs about present opportunities are shaped.
There is a back-and-forth movement between 2A and 2B, ending in
Step 3: Action
What makes and breaks the rationality of an individual's behaviour is whether or not desire in some way directly affects the beliefs (making evidence gathering sloppy) and what amount of time is spent going back and forth between 2A and "B (jumping to a conclusion is irrational, but so is delaying a conclusion until it is too late to act).
[edit] 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)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Chapter on Jon Elster by Daniel Little in New Horizons in Economic Thought: Appraisals of Leading Economists, edited by Warren Samuels (Edward Elgar Publishing, 1992) ISBN 1-85278-379-6. Also available as download [1].
[edit] External links
- Elster page at Columbia
- Jon Elster page maintained by Hans O. Melberg
- Selected quotes by Jon Elster
