Jon Elster
Norwegian philosopher and political theorist
Jon Elster (; born 22 February 1940) is a Norwegian philosopher and political theorist who holds the Robert K. Merton professorship of Social Science at Columbia University and since 2005 professor of social science at the Collège de France.
He received his PhD in social science from the École Normale Superieure in 1972. He has previously taught at the University of Paris, the University of Oslo, and the University of Chicago, where he became professor of political science in 1984. Since 1995, he has held the Robert K. Merton professorship of Social Science at Columbia University, as well as being professor of social science at the Collège de France since 2005.
Elster has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory. He is also a notable proponent of analytical Marxism, was a leading member of the September Group, which attempted to reinterpret Marxism on the basis of analytic philosophy, and a critic of neoclassical economics and public choice theory, largely on behavioral and psychological grounds. In 2016, he was awarded the 22nd Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science for his contributions to political science.
Biography
Elster is the son of journalist/author and CEO of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Torolf Elster, and poet Magli Elster. He earned his PhD in 1972 from the École Normale Superieure in Paris with a dissertation on Karl Marx under the direction of Raymond Aron. Elster was a member of the September Group for many years but left in the early 1990s.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q468043. VIAF identifies the subject as 2469842. The Library of Congress control number is n79022962. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940, 2005, 1972 and 1984.
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