Bio: (1940-) Norwegian philosopher. Jon Elster holds a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne and has taught at the University of Oslo, the University of Chicago, and Colombia University. Elster's approach is specific because in his scientific work he combines analytical Marxism with the rational choice theory. He advocated methodological individualism, but he also accepted the existence of multiple selves. In Explaining Social Behavior (2007), he argues that individual choices should be the main theoretical starting point for the social sciences. Elster pays special attention to the relationship between rational and irrational behavior, mental states (emotions, beliefs, and attitudes) that precede choices in action, and the mechanisms of social interaction that lead to collective decision-making. He also dealt with the topics of rationality, political psychology, social order, deliberative democracy, the development of constitutionalism, and transitional justice.

Main works

Leibniz and the Development of Economic Rationality (1975);

Logic and Society (1978);

Ulysses and the Sirens (1979);

Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality (1982);

Explaining Technical Change (1983);

Making Sense of Marx (1985);

The Multiple Self (1986a);

Foundations of Social Choice Theory (1986b);

Rational Choice (1986c);

Constitutionalism and Democracy (1988);

Solomonic Judgments: Studies in the Limitation of Rationality (1989);

The Cement of Society: A Study of Social Order (1989);

Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (1989);

Choice over Time (1992);

Political Psychology (1993);

Deliberative Democracy (1998);

Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective (2004);

Explaining Social Behavior: More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (2007);

Reason and Rationality (2009);

Securities against Misrule (2013);

Constituent Assemblies (2018);

France before 1789: The Unraveling of an Absolutist Regime (2020);

Ulysses Unbound: Studies in Rationality, Precommitment, and Constraints (2020).