Jon Elster

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.

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