Harsanyi
contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy / Game Theory1920 – 2000
John C. Harsanyi (1920-2000) was a Hungarian-American economist and philosopher who made foundational contributions to game theory, decision theory, and ethics. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics for his analysis of games of incomplete information, and developed influential arguments for rule utilitarianism grounded in rational choice under uncertainty.
Notable Achievements
1
Shared 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics for game theory of incomplete information
2
Developed Bayesian games and the Harsanyi transformation
3
Formulated the 'veil of ignorance' argument for utilitarianism (predating Rawls)
4
Advanced rule utilitarianism grounded in rational choice theory
5
Contributed to equilibrium selection theory with Reinhard Selten