currently Robert K. Merton professor of social sciences at Columbia University. Elster has ranged widely over political philosophy, rational choice theory, and game theory, with a particular concern for the complexities of human decision making. His many publications include Ulysses and the Sirens (1979), Sour Grapes (1983), Making Sense of Marx (1985), The Cement of Society (1989), Solomonic Judgements (1989), Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (1989), Local Justice (1992), and Ulysses Unbound (2000).