About the Conference
Rational Choice Theory and the Humanities
Deemed by many to be the most powerful tool for understanding human action, Rational Choice Theory has been the subject of extensive debate in the social sciences, in particular, in the fields of economics, psychology, sociology, and political theory. Embraced by some as a normative tool and others as a descriptive one, RCT can be linked to "rational choice thinking." What we mean by that is a set of terms and assumptions that under gird RCT and find even greater mobility than RCT within and without the aforementioned fields and disciplines. It is only relatively recently, and most especially in the work of Jon Elster, that an attempt has been made to link a discussion of RCT to the humanities.
This conference aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of key thinkers in disparate areas to discuss the ways in which RCT can (as an exemplary discourse) speak to and with the humanities, and what the humanities might say back. How else can human motivations and actions be mapped, analyzed, imagined?
This conference has been organized by the Program in Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford University, an interdisciplinary PhD program working in the interstices of the social sciences and the humanities.
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Keynote Speakers
Jon Elster
Robert K. Merton Professor of Social Sciences
Ph.D. , University of Paris, 1972). Jon Elster teaches political science and philosophy at Columbia University. His books include Ulysses and the Sirens (1979), Sour Grapes (1983), Making Sense of Marx (1985), The Cement of Society (1989), Local Justice (1992), Alchemies of the Mind (1999), Ulysses Unbound (2000) and Closing the Books (2004). His main current research interests are the comparative study of constitution-making and the microfoundations of civil war.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Avalon Foundation Professor in the
Humanities and Director of the Center for Comparative Literature and
Society at Columbia University, teaches English and the Politics of
Culture. She was educated at the University of Calcutta, and came to
Cornell University in 1961 to finish doctoral work. Her books are
Myself Must I Remake (1974), In Other Worlds (1987), The Post-Colonial
Critic (1988), Outside in the Teaching Machine (1993), A Critique of
Postcolonial Reason (1999), and Death of a Discipline (2003). Red
Thread is in press. She has translated Jacques Derrida's Of
Grammatology (1976) and Mahasweta Devi's Imaginary Maps (1994), Breast
Stories (1997), Old Women (1999), and Chotti Munda and his Arrow (2002).
She is active in the International Women's Movement, the struggle for
ecological justice, and rural literacy. Her influence has been felt in
Art and Architecture, Law and Political Science, in curatorial practices
here and abroad. Her work has been translated into many languages. Her
focus has remained education in the Humanities as the best lasting
weapon to combat imperialism.
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Sponsor
The Program in Modern Thought and Literature, Stanford University.
Cosponsors
- David Kreps, Graduate School of Business
- Dean's Office, School of Humanities and Sciences
- Department of Comparative Literature
- Department of English
- Division of Literature, Cultures, and Languages
- Monroe Fund, Department of Political Science
- Office of the President
- Office of the Provost
- Stanford Humanities Center
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Dates and Location
April 29-30, 2005
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
The conference is free and open to the public. As space is limited, please register early through our online registration form.
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Travel Information
Stanford University is located in Palo Alto, 25 miles south of San Francisco and accessible to San Jose Airport (SJO) and San Francisco Airport (SFO).
Directions to campus from the airport, driving, or public transportation:
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/hds/scs/area/transportation.html
Local hotels and rates:
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/hds/scs/individuals/hotelmotel.html
Printable Map of Stanford University Campus:
http://www.stanford.edu/home/visitors/maps.html
Directions and Parking Information for Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center:
http://www.stanfordalumni.org/aboutsaa/saamap.html?content_instance_id=106281
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