Philippe Mongin (18 July 1950 – 5 August 2020) was a French economic philosopher. He served as Director of the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

and was a professor at the

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

. From 2006 to 2012, he was a member of the Economic Analysis Council under the

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

Biography

In 1969, Mongin enrolled in the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, where he studied literature and philosophy. He was also a student at

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, where he earned a degree in 1971. He defended his thesis under the supervision of

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his ...

. It was the first French thesis on the ''

Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...

'' manuscripts of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. Following a research visit at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1975–1978, Mongin began researching contemporary and mathematical economics. In 1980, he participated in collaborative efforts by

Herbert A. Simon Herbert Alexander Simon (June 15, 1916 – February 9, 2001) was an American scholar whose work influenced the fields of computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology. His primary research interest was decision-making within organi ...

to conduct research on concepts of rationality in neoclassical economics. Beginning in the 1990s, Mongin participated in a movement in attempt to reform normative economics and lift limits on the global market. In doing so, he developed an impossibility theorem commonly used today in economic literature. Building off of ideals from

John Harsanyi John Charles Harsanyi (; May 29, 1920 and August 9, 2000) was a Hungarian-American economist who spent most of his career at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994. ...

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

, he clarified his economic beliefs in response to criticisms of his mentor,

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions ...

. Mongin's research program on normative economics started at the

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

, where he was a visiting professor from 1991 to 1996 and where he collaborates with Claude d'Aspremont. At the same time, he aimed to develop a form of logic for

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

. After his time in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, he worked in the THEMA laboratory at

Cergy-Pontoise University Cergy-Pontoise University (, ) was a French university, located in Cergy-Pontoise, France. On 1 January 2020, the university merged with the International School of Information Processing Sciences (EISTI) and the University of Paris-Seine to fo ...

near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he met Marc Fleurbaey and Jean-François Laslier. From 1995 to 2002, he directed with Laslier the seminar "Les Midis d'Economie et Philosophie" in Paris. He directed Marc Fleurbaey's thesis in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. At the start of the 2000s, Mongin concluded much of his research and began applying his economic theories to politics and the judiciary. This led to his specialization in the judgment aggregation theory. Philippe Mongin died on 5 August 2020 at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mongin, Philippe 1950 births 2020 deaths French economists People from Marseille Academic staff of HEC Paris