Jon Elster

Jon Elster (born in 1940) is a Philosophe, a Sociologue and a specialist in social sciences of the United States originating in Norway. He is famous in particular for his work on the analytical Marxism and the Théorie of the rational choice.

Biography

He carried out part of his studies to the National university of Paris.

Elster is currently titular pulpit Robert K. Merton and professor in social sciences with the Columbia University. In 2005, it was allowed as professor attached to the Collège de France.

The thought of Elster

The general theory of the human action of Elster (as presented in its work Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences ) consists in saying that any aspect of the human actions can be considered like the result of two processes of filtering:

a whole of structural constraints (escaping immediate control from the agent), which reduce the whole of the possible actions from a point of view abstracted to the unit from the feasible actions.
the mechanism which selects the element of the whole of the feasible actions which will be carried out.

Elster names " structuraliste" the position according to which the first filter reduces the whole of the feasible actions to only one element or, at least, with a unit so restricted that the second filter loses any significance of it. But rejecting this structuralist position, he rather regards the structural constraints as a backdrop and concentrates on the operation of the second filter. Two principal interpretations are then possible:

the position which one could call traditionalist consists in affirming that one of the feasible actions is selected following the involuntary application of traditional standards.
the approach in terms of rational choice affirms on the other hand that the second process of filtering consists of a deliberate choice and intentional of a feasible option, choice which maximizes an function-objective such as the profit or the utility.

See too

Works

1965, Humanitet og virkelighetsoppfatning (in Humanity and the perception off reality), Oslo, Aschehoug, 103 pages
1965, Samfunn og frihet, In antologi ved Jon Elster (in Society and freedom: With collection off essays), Oslo, Pax, 199 pages
1965, Sosialismen, FRA Marx til idag (Socialism), Redigert sammen med Tom Rønnow, Oslo, Dreyer, 148 pages
1967, Åndens fenomenologi (in The Phenomenology off Spirit, introduction, notes and translation by Jon Elster), Oversettelse, introduksjon og to note ved Jon Elster, Oslo, Pax, 199 pages
1969, Of evige spørsmål - og vår tids svar (The eternal questions - and the answers off our time), Oslo, Pax, 123 pages
1969, Essays om Hegel og Marx (Essays one Hegel and Marx), Oslo, Pax, 128 pages
1969, Jeg VAr, Jeg er, Jeg to blir: Rosa Luxemburg (I was, I amndt, I will Be: Rosa Luxemburg), Oslo, Pax, 179 pages
1969, Om Kapitalen, In introduksjon til Marx' hovedverk (Year introduction to Marx' S " Das Kapital"), Oslo, Pax, 148 pages
1971, Ideologier, Om begrepsdannelse I samfunnsvitenskapene (Ideologies: Social butt the formation off concepts in the sciences), Oslo, 209 pages
1971, Nytt perspektiv på økonomisk historie, Problemer og metoder I in samfunnsvitenskap (new perspective there is economic history, Problems and methods in has social science), Oslo, Pax, 164 pages
1972, Det distributive flertall, And aspekt ved samfunnsvitenskapenes logikk og historie (The distributive majority: Year social aspect off the logic and history off the sciences), Oslo, 240 pages
1972, Økonomi og historie (Economics and History), Oslo, Pax, 78 pages
1973, Marx I dag: Artikler (Marx today: With collection off articles, edited), Redigert, Oslo, Gyldendal, 150 pages
1974, Of utro tjenere, Embetsverket I EFF-kampen (The disloyal being useful: The bureaucracy in the Norwegian European Union debate off 1972), Oslo, Pax, 95 pages
1974, Økonomi og sosiologi, Noen grunnbegreper (Economics and Sociology: Summon key concepts), Bergen, Forelesningsnotater, 189 pages
1975, Leibniz and the formation of the capitalist spirit, Paris, Sapwood-Montaigne, 253
1976, Stat, organisasjon, klasse, modern Noen hovedretninger I politisk filosofi (The State, organization and class: Hand schools in modern political philosophy), Oslo, Pax, 141 pages
1976, Vitenskapsteori, Noen utvalgte problemer (The theory off science: Summon selected problems), Historisk institutt, Universitetet I Oslo, 132 pages
1977, Om utbytting (Butt exploitation), Oslo, Pax, 128 pages
1977, Rasjonalitet og rasjonalism, Økonomi, filosofi og vitenskap (Rationality: economics, philosophy and science), Oslo, Gyldendal, 205 pages
1978, Energi: in beslutningskrise (Energy: In decision crisis), Redigert sammen med Haakon Børde, Oslo, Gyldendal, 202 pages
1978, possible Logic and Society, Contradictions and worlds, Chichester: John Wiley, 235 pages (translations: Spanish German and)
1978, Magt, To normalize og Sanktioner (Power, Norms and Sanctions, edited), Redigert, Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 153 pages
1979, Forklaring og dialektikk, Noen grunnbegreper I vitenskapsteorien (Explanation and dialectics: Summon key concepts in the theory off science), Oslo, Pax, 233 pages
1979, Ulysses and the Sirens, Studies in rationality and irrationality (second edition with corrections in 1984), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 193 pages (translations: French (partially), German (partially), Italian, Spaniard)
1980, Teknologi och samhællsførændring (Technology and social exchange, edited with Ingrid Åberg), Redigert med bistand front Ingrid Åberg, Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 103 pages
1983, Explaining Technical Changes, has box study in the philosophy off science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 273 pages (translations: Italian, Spaniard)
1983, Sour Bunches, Studies in the subversion off rationality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 177 pages (translations: French (partially), German (partially), Italian, Japanese, Spaniard)
1984, Argumentasjonsteori, språk og vitenskapsfilosofi (The theory off arguments, language and the philosophy off science), Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 334 pages
1985, Judicious Making off Marx, Studies in Marxism and Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 556 pages (translation: French)
1986, Year Introduction to Karl Marx, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 200 pages (translations: Norwegian, Portuguese, Spaniard)
1986, Foundations off Social Choice Theory (Edited with Aanund Hylland), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 250 pages (translation: Portuguese)
1986, Karl Marx, has Reader (Collected), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 345 pages
1986, the plowman and his children (The plowman and his children), Paris, editions of midnight, collection " propositions" , 200.
1986, Rational Choice (Edited), Oxford: Blackwell, 266 pages
1986, The Multiple Self-service (Edited), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 269 pages (translation: Italian)
1988, Constitutionalism and Democracy (Edited with Rune Slagstad), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 359 pages (translation: Bulgarian)
1988, Hva er igjen front Marx? (What is left off Marx - has Norwegian (translation off Introduction to Karl Marx), Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 247 pages
1989, Alternatives to Capitalism (Edited with Karl O. Moene), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 179 pages (translation: Korean)
1989, Social Nuts and Bolts for the Sciences, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 184 pages (translations: Greek, Italian, Japanese, Spaniard)
1989, Solomonic Judgments, Studies in the limitations off rationality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 232 pages (translation: Spaniard
1989, The Cement off Society, has off study social order, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 311 pages (translations: Italian, Spaniard)
1989, Vitenskap og politikk, In artikkelsamling (Science and politics: With collection off essays), Oslo, Universitetsforlaget, 239 pages
1991, Interpersonal Comparisons off Well-being (Edited with John Roemer), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 400 pages
1992, Choice over Time (Edited with George Loewenstein), New York: Russell Wise Foundation, 399 pages
1992, Local Justice, How institutions allocate scarce goods and necessary burdens, Russell Wise Foundation, 283 pages
1992, Local Justice, How institutions allocate scarce goods and necessary burdens, New York: Wise Russell Foundation, 283 pages (translations: Italian, Spaniard)
1993, Arguing and Bargaining (in Italian, unpublished in English), Edizioni Anabasi
1993, Political Psychology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 204 pages (translations: French (original edition - 1990), Italian, Spaniard)
1993, Political Psychology, Cambridge University Close, 204 pages
1994, Rationality and the Emotions (in Italian, unpublished in English), Edizioni Anabasi
1994, The Ethics off Medical Choice (Edited with Nicolas Herpin), London: Pinter, 168 pages (translation: French (original edition -1992))
1995, Local Justice in America (Edited), New York: Wise Russell Foundation, 384 pages
1996, The Round Counts Talks in Eastern Europe (Edited), Chicago: University off Chicago Near.
1998, Deliberative Democracy (Edited), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 282 pages.
1998, Institutional Design in Post-Communist Societies: Rebuilding the Ship At Sea (Theories off Institutional Design) (Edited with Claus Offe and Ulrich Klaus Preuss), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close
1999, Addiction: Entries and Exits (edited), New York: Wise Russell Foundation, 310 pages
1999, Alchemies off the Mind: Rationality and the emotions, Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 416 pages.
1999, Getting Hooked: Rationality and Addiction (Edited by Jon Elster and Ole-Jørgen Skog), Cambridge: Cambridge University Close, 296 pages.
1999, Strong Feelings: Emotion, Addiction, and Human Behavior, The MIT Close, 252 pages.
2000, Ulysses Unbound, Cambridge: Cambridge University Near.

External bonds

Page of Elster to the “Columbia University” (www.columbia.edu)
Page on Jon Elster (www.geocities.com)
Some quotations of Elster (www.users.globalnet.co.uk)
Necks given in 2006 to the Collège de France (. www.college-de-france.fr)

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