Geoffrey Brennan (September 15, 1944 – July 29, 2022) was an Australian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He was professor of philosophy at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, professor of political science at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, and faculty member in the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

. He was the Director of the Research School from 1991-1996. Trained as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, Brennan collaborated extensively with

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner

James M. Buchanan James McGill Buchanan Jr. ( ; October 3, 1919 – January 9, 2013) was an American economist known for his work on public choice theory originally outlined in his most famous work, ''The Calculus of Consent'', co-authored with Gordon Tullock in ...

and became the first non-American president of the

Public Choice Public choice, or public choice theory, is "the use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science."Gordon Tullock, 9872008, "public choice," ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics''. . It includes the study of po ...

Society in 2002. Brennan published widely on rational actor theory, philosophy, and economics, and sat on the editorial board of the academic journal ''

Representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

''. He held academic positions in several related departments at Australia National University and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. With Loren Lomasky he won the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...

's Gregory Kavka Prize in Political Philosophy for the paper "Is There a Duty to Vote?" He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in Economics (Dr. oec. h. c.) from the

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

in 2002, the Distinguished Fellow Award of the

Economic Society of Australia The Economic Society of Australia (ESA) is the peak body for Australian economists. It was established in 1925 and has branches in all states and the ACT. The current president is Matthew Butlin from Victoria The ESA gives the Young Economist Awa ...

in 2013, and the Gutenberg Teaching Award of

Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

(Germany) in 2018. Brennan was a golfer, and a semi-professional singer (for some years a national recitalist with the ABC). In 2022 Brennan died in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

of complications from

acute leukemia Acute leukemia or acute leukaemia is a family of serious medical conditions relating to an original diagnosis of leukemia. In most cases, these can be classified according to the lineage, myeloid or lymphoid, of the malignant cells that grow uncont ...

Bibliography

*''The Power to Tax'' (1980) (with

) *''The Reason of Rules'' (1985) (with

) *''Democracy and Decision: The Pure Theory of Electoral Preference'' (Cambridge University Press, 1993) (with Loren Lomasky). *''Politics and Process: New Essays in Democratic Theory'' (Cambridge University Press 1989) (ed., with Loren Lomasky). *''Democratic Devices and Desires'' (2000) (with

Alan Hamlin Alan Patrick Hamlin (born 25 March 1951) is a British economist and political theorist. Hamlin attended Bristol Grammar School 1962-69 and earned a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Wales, followed by a DPhil at the University o ...

) *''

The Economy of Esteem ''The Economy of Esteem'' is a book by Geoffrey Brennan and Philip Pettit describing the role of self-esteem and honour in the economy. It was published in 2004 by Oxford University Press. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 466 librari ...

'' (2004) (with

Philip Pettit Philip Noel Pettit (born 1945) is an Irish philosopher and political theorist. He is the Laurance Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values at Princeton University and also Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the Aust ...

) *''Collected Works of James Buchanan'' (ed., with

Hartmut Kliemt Hartmut is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hartmut of Saint Gall (died 905), Benedictine abbot * Hartmut Bagger (born 1938), retired German general of the Bundeswehr *Hartmut Becker (1938–2022), German actor * Hartmut Boockm ...

and

Robert Tollison Robert D. Tollison (1942–October 24, 2016) was an American economist who specialized in public choice theory. Education A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Spartanburg, South Carolina, Tollison attended local Wofford College where he earn ...

)

References

External links

Geoffrey Brennan's profile at ANUGeoffrey Brennan's profile at UNC/Chapel Hill
* 1944 births 2022 deaths University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Duke University faculty 20th-century Australian philosophers 21st-century Australian philosophers {{australia-philosopher-stub

Bibliography

See also

References

External links