Herbert Gintis
Herbert Gintis | |
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Bob Rowthorn, Elmar Altvater and organiser Theo van de Klundert | |
| Born | Herbert Malena Gintis February 11, 1940 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 2023 (aged 82) Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater |
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| Influences | behavioral science, sociobiology |
| Notable works |
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Herbert Gintis (February 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was an American economist,
Schooling in Capitalist America
, had multiple editions in five languages since it was first published in 1976. Their book, A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and its Evolution was published by Princeton University Press in 2011.
Life and career
Gintis was born in
Bala Cynwyd (just outside Philadelphia). Gintis completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania in three years, one of which was spent at the University of Paris, and received his B.A. in mathematics in 1961. He then enrolled at Harvard University for post-graduate work in mathematics. After receiving his M.A. in 1962, he grew disillusioned with the subject area, and although still registered at Harvard, became a sandal maker with a shop in Harvard Square. During that time, he became very active in the student movements of the 1960s, including the Students for a Democratic Society and grew increasingly interested in Marxism and economics. In 1963, he switched his PhD program at Harvard from mathematics to economics, completing his PhD in 1969 with his dissertation, Alienation and power: towards a radical welfare economics. He was subsequently hired as an assistant professor in the Harvard Graduate School of Education and then as an assistant professor and later associate professor in Harvard's Economics Department.[1][2]
Towards the end of his postgraduate studies in economics, Gintis had come into contact with the economist
alienation of labor, racism, sexism, and imperialism. Many of their ideas were tried out in a Harvard class which they collectively taught, "The Capitalist Economy: Conflict and Power". They also became founding members of the Union of Radical Political Economists.[3][4]
In 1974 Gintis, along with Bowles,
Schooling in Capitalist America, in 1976.[6] Their second joint book, Democracy and Capitalism, published a decade later, was a critique of both liberalism and orthodox Marxism and outlined their vision of "postliberal democracy".[7] Their most recent book, A Cooperative Species, was published in 2011. Like Gintis's 2009 The Bounds of Reason, the book reflects his increasing emphasis since the 1990s on the unification of economic theory with sociobiology and other behavioral sciences.[8][9]
Gintis retired from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as
professor emeritus in 2003. In 2014, he was a visiting professor in the Economics Department of Central European University where he taught since 2005, visiting professor at the University of Siena, a position he held since 1989, and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute where he taught since 2001.[10]
Gintis died on January 5, 2023, at the age of 82.[11]
Books
In addition to numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, Gintis has authored or co-authored the following books:
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780465072309.
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780465016006.
- Also as: Gintis, Herbert;
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780691136202.
- Gintis, Herbert (2009). The bounds of reason: game theory and the unification of the behavioral sciences. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691140520.[9]
- Gintis, Herbert (2009). Game theory evolving: a problem-centered introduction to modeling strategic interaction (2nd ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691140513.[9]
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780691158167.[8]
- Gintis, Herbert (2016). Individuality and Entanglement: The Moral and Material Bases of Social Life. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
From 1997 to 2006 Gintis and anthropologist Robert Boyd co-chaired "Economic Environments and the Evolution of Norms and Preferences", a multidisciplinary research project funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Much of the research stemming from the project has been published in two books co-edited by Gintis and other project members:
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780262572378.[13]
- Gintis, Herbert; ISBN 9780199262052.[14]
References
- ISBN 1136788352
- ISBN 0-472-06877-6.
- ISBN 1-85898-560-9.
- ISBN 113597022X
- ISBN 0199395969
- ISBN 0791422518
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ Jstor(subscription required).
- ^ a b c Sigmund, Karl (November–December 2009). "The Loitering Presence of the Rational Actor". American Scientist. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ Santa Fe Institute. Herbert Gintis. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Herbert Gintis Obituary (2023) - Northampton, MA - Daily Hampshire Gazette". Legacy.com.
- Jstor(subscription required).
- Jstor(subscription required)
- ISBN 9048124379
External links
- Official website
- Profile on Google Scholar
- Video: Herbert Gintis on evolution and morality delivered at Cambridge University, 9 July 2009 (official YouTube channel of Cambridge University).
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