Definitions of concepts often used by Elster

This page is still under construction. Feel free to do some research on one of the terms below and send me a suggested short definition (based on how Elster use the term) and a longer (a few paragraphs) discussion of the term as it relates to Elster's work.

Books | Articles | Reviews | Index | Debates | Manuscripts | Definitions | Updates | Links

Abdication

Altruism

Autonomy

Adaptive preferences

Belief

Causal explanation

Character planning

Class

Coercion

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive fallacies

Collective action

Constitutionalism

Counterfinality

Democracy

Dialectics

Emotions

Envy

Essentially by-products

Explanation

Exploitation

Filter-explanations

Freedom

Functional explanation

Functionalism

Game Theory

Graphe paranomon

Hate

Historical Materialism

Hysteresis

Ideology

Insomnia

Intentional explanation

Invisible-hand explanations

Irrationality

Justice

Mechanism

Methodological individualism

(The) Multiple Self

Myopia

Negation (Internal and External)

Norms

Paradox

Power

Precommitment

Preferences

Rationality (Broad and Thin theory)

Reductionism

Reinforcement

Revenge

Revolution

Selection

Self-binding

Self-defeating activities

Self-realization

Social change

Social order

Sour grapes

Spontaneity

Strategic behaviour

Technical change

Weakness of Will

Wishful Thinking


Books | Articles | Reviews | Index | Debates | Manuscripts | Definitions | Updates | Links