printable version'Rational choice theory' focus of event
The Program in Modern Thought and Literature will host an interdisciplinary conference, "Rational Choice Theory and the Humanities," April 29-30 at the Arrillaga Alumni Center, to compare how rational choice theory and the humanities each attempt to understand human action.
Although rational choice theory has been extensively debated in the social sciences—particularly in the fields of economics, psychology, sociology and political theory—its relation to the humanities has been considered only relatively recently, said David Palumbo-Liu, professor of comparative literature and director of the Program in Modern Thought and Literature.
By bringing together scholars from the social sciences with humanities scholars from disciplines including comparative literature, philosophy and history to discuss rational choice theory, the conference will provide opportunities to pose questions that might not otherwise be asked, Palumbo-Liu said. "It can move us out of our habits of mind." And, "most important, the participants will discuss how both the social sciences and the humanities address real-life issues such as decision-making," he said.
Keynote speakers are Jon Elster, professor of political science and philosophy, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, professor of English and comparative literature, both of Columbia University. Elster is considered a leading interpreter of rational choice theory. Spivak, director of the Center for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia, is a pioneering figure in the study of world literature and cultural politics.
Also speaking at the conference will be Kenneth Arrow, professor emeritus of economics and of management science and engineering, whose 1951 book, Social Choice and Individual Values, is considered the first classic treatise on rational choice theory. Arrow shared the 1972 Nobel Memorial Prize in economic sciences with John Hicks.
The conference is free and open to the public. The conference schedule and information about participating scholars is available at the Program in Modern Thought and Literature website, http://www.stanford.edu/dept/MTL/.