Photo: HarvardEthics / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Jon Elster is listed as a philosopher, professor and sociologist. Jon Elster was born on February 22, 1940 in Oslo, Norway. The age as of 2026 is 86. Schooling on record includes Paris Descartes University. Recorded honors include Guggenheim Fellowship, Fridtjof Nansen Award for outstanding research, historical-philosophical class (2006), Prices of the Norwegian Association of Sociology (2011) and 4 more.
My Take
Elster is one of those thinkers I find quietly indispensable. A Norwegian who built his career between Paris and Columbia, he refuses to let social science hide behind neat assumptions about how people behave. What grabs me is his honesty about the limits of rationality and the messy pull of emotion and self-deception. The Jean Nicod Prize and Johan Skytte Prize confirm what readers already feel: this is rigor without pretense. He is not a flashy public intellectual, and that is exactly why I trust him. Decades from now I suspect his work on choice and constraint will still feel uncomfortably accurate about us.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jon Elster
- Name (Japanese)
- ヤン・エルスター
- Reading
- やん・えるすたー
- Born
- February 22, 1940 (age 86)
- Origin
- Oslo, Norway
- Occupation
- philosopher / professor / sociologist / economist / political scientist
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Dragon
2. Background
- University
- Paris Descartes University
Awards & achievements
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- 2006 Fridtjof Nansen Award for outstanding research, historical-philosophical class
- 2011 Prices of the Norwegian Association of Sociology
- 2002 John von Neumann Award
- 1997 Jean Nicod Prize
- 1995 honorary doctor of the University of Valencia
- 2016 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science
3. Links
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon%20Elster
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q468043
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Jon Elster born?
Jon Elster was born on February 22, 1940 and is 86 years old.
Where is Jon Elster from?
Jon Elster is from Oslo, Norway.
What does Jon Elster do?
Jon Elster works as philosopher, professor, sociologist, economist, political scientist.
Where did Jon Elster study?
Jon Elster attended Paris Descartes University.
Philosopher — see all → · Professor — see all → · More people from Norway → · More people born on February 22 →