What does it mean for behavior to be “rational”? What is the relationship among rationality, logic, consistency, proof, and emotion? These questions and others will be explored in this seminar course from the standpoint of philosophy, economics, mathematics, psychology, biology, and other disciplines. Enrollment will be limited to about 25.
Jointly with Professors Eric Maskin and Barry Mazur.
Description: What does it mean for us to believe that something is true? How does our conception of truth vary with the context and also with the particular field of inquiry, such as philosophy, mathematics, economics, and everyday communications? The seminar course will explore examples related to the participants’ domains of interest.
Jointly with Professors Eric Maskin and Barry Mazur.
Course Description: The course examines Hume’s and Smith's writings on philosophy, law, and political economy, in historical perspective and in relation to the foundations of modern thought.
Course Description: This graduate seminar investigates the contemporary rise of Asia in historical context with a focus on comparisons and connections between India and China.
Course Description: A basic course in social choice theory and its analytical foundations. There will be particular emphasis on recent work in voting theory. Attention will also be paid to implementation theory, the theory of justice, and the analysis of liberties and rights.
Course Description: The course examines Adam Smith's and Karl Marx’s writings on philosophy, law and political economy, in historical perspective and in relation to the foundations of modern thought.
What genre of items (viewpoints, assertions, etc.) can or should fall under the categories “objective,” “subjective,” or “neither”? What functions do these terms serve? What would we lose or gain if we simply erased them from our thoughts? How have they been used historically and more recently? How is objective knowledge reconcilable with positional variation of observations?
We will review a broad literature devoted to these themes. We will also pick specific examples from contemporary economics, sociology, mathematics,...
Course Description: The axiomatic method entails drawing logical implications from a set of assumptions, or axioms, that are taken as given. The course examines how this method is used in different disciplines. Examples will be taken from philosophy, economics, mathematics, physics, and biology, among others. Prerequisite: There are no specific course prerequisites but ease and familiarity with formal reasoning is essential. Enrolment is expected to be limited to about 25.
Jointly with Professors Eric Maskin and Barry Mazur
Course Description: We will explore different ideas of utility, ranging from the writings of Epicurus and Aristotle in ancient Greece to von Neumann, Ramsey, and Kahneman in the twentieth century. We will examine both predictive and normative issues, as well as comparison and aggregation of utility across individuals.
Jointly with Professors Eric Maskin and Barry Mazur
Course Description: This graduate seminar investigates the contemporary rise of Asia in historical context with a focus on comparisons and connections between India and China.
The course will analyze the theory and practice of democracy, and draw on law as well as the social sciences. Questions to be considered include: What are the advantages and drawbacks of democracy relative to other forms of government? What are the roles of fair elections and free public discussion? Can rights precede legislation? Are rights preconditions or constraints on democracy? What is the role of courts in a democratic society? Note: Enrollment will be limited to about 25.
Jointly taught with Professors Eric Maskin and Cass Sunstein
The course will be focused on an examination of the constitutive role of health in human development, and its instrumental role in economic development. It will include discussion of the conceptual issues and measurement problems in health studies, and also in assessing inequalities in health and healthcare. The correspondence and dissonance in the links between income inequality and health inequality will be investigated, and the challenge of instituting universal health care in poor countries will be examined.
A basic course in social choice theory and its analytical foundations. The subject matter will include possibility theorems in voting and in welfare economics. Attention will be paid to implementation theory, the theory of justice, and the analysis of liberties and rights.
The course will be focused on an examination of the constitutive role of health in human development, and its instrumental role in economic development. It will include discussion of the conceptual issues and measurement problems in health studies, and also in assessing inequalities in health and healthcare. The correspondence and dissonance in the links between income inequality and health inequality will be investigated, and the challenge of instituting universal health care in poor countries will be examined.
Across the world, remarkable improvements in life expectancy have occurred over the past few decades. But global and regional disparities of health outcomes have also surged, and this widening "outcome gap" does not always move in parallel with economic progress, or even with the commonly identified social determinants. The causal influences on the differences are subject to critical examination, including the role that recent innovations in prevention and therapeutics, health-care systems and social safety nets, play or might play in promoting or retarding health and wellbeing. The...
