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Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences

Elster, Jon·1989·Cambridge University Press eBooks
DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511812255
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Abstract

This 1989 book is intended as an introductory survey of the philosophy of the social sciences. It is essentially a work of exposition which offers a toolbox of mechanisms - nuts and bolts, cogs and wheels - that can be used to explain complex social phenomena. Within a brief compass, Jon Elster covers a vast range of topics. His point of departure is the conflict we all face between our desires and our opportunities. How can rational choice theory help us understand our motivation and behaviour? More significantly, what happens when the theory breaks down but we still cleave to a belief in the power of the rational? Elster describes the fascinating range of forms of irrationality - wishful thinking, the phenomenon of sour grapes, discounting the future in noncooperative behaviour. This is a remarkably lucid and comprehensive introduction to the social sciences for students of political science, philosophy, sociology and economics.

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Metadata

Authors
Elster, J.
Venue
Cambridge University Press eBooks
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Published
1989-07-28
DOI
10.1017/cbo9780511812255
OpenAlex
W1504331646
Cited by
2,017
References
0
FWCI
40.21
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1017/cbo9780511812255
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Elster, J. (1989). Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511812255

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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.