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Amartya Sen

Indian economist and philosopher (1933-) · India · Academics · also United Kingdom

Amartya Sen is read about 1,435 times a day, in 87 languages.

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An economist who made famine and inequality problems you could measure - and for showing how freedom and welfare twist together in ways markets alone miss, he took the Nobel.

AcademicsAcademicEconomicsPhilosophyLiteratureIndiaAsia20th Century

A life in dates

2021Princess of Asturias Award for Social SciencesAward2020Honorary Doctorate of Paris Nanterre UniversityAward2018Honorary Doctor of Waseda UniversityAward2017Honorary Doctor of the University of MiamiAward2013Honorary Doctor of the Catholic University of ParisAward2009“Democracy has to be judged not just by the institutions that formally exist but by the extent to which different voices from diverse sections of the people can actually be heard.”In their wordsp. xiii

Honorary Doctor of the University of Madrid ComplutenseAward2007Global Economy PrizeAwardHonorary Doctor of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-SorbonneAward2005“People's priorities and actions are influenced by many different affiliations and associations, not just by their religion.”In their words29 November 2005"Solution to cultural confusion is freedom and reason", Financial Times (November 29, 2005)

2004“I am not persuaded that Hayek got the substantive connections entirely right.”In their words20 September 2004"An insight into the purpose of prosperity", Financial Times (September 20, 2004)

2002“John Kenneth Galbraith doesn't get enough praise.”In their wordsAmartya Sen, quoted in Jonathan Steele, "Last of the old-style liberals", The Guardian (2002)

Honorary DoctorateAward1998Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelAward1997Edinburgh MedalAward1995Honorary Doctor of the University of AntwerpAward1991“It is arguable that a closer contact between ethics and economics can be beneficial not only to economics but even to ethics.”In their wordsChap. 3 : Freedom and Consequences

1987Honorary Doctor of Caen UniversityAward1977“Where is the railway station?" he asks me.”In their words“Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 6(4) (1977): p. 332.

1954Adam Smith PrizeAward1933Born3 November 1933

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

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In their own words 10

,
Amartya Sen
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Democracy has to be judged not just by the institutions that formally exist but by the extent to which different voices from diverse sections of the people can actually be heard.

    2009, p. xiii, Own words

  2. I agree with Mr Wolf that freedom is centrally important.

    Feb 11, 2007, "Unrestrained smoking is a libertarian half-way house", Financial Times (February 11, 2007), Own words

  3. People's priorities and actions are influenced by many different affiliations and associations, not just by their religion.

    Nov 29, 2005, "Solution to cultural confusion is freedom and reason", Financial Times (November 29, 2005), Own words

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Awards

Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences2021
Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association2020
Honorary Doctorate of Paris Nanterre University2020
Bodley Medal2019
Honorary Doctor of Waseda University2018
Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science2017
Honorary Doctor of the University of Miami2017
Albert O. Hirschman Prize2016
Honorary Doctor of the Catholic University of Paris2013
National Humanities Medal2011
Honorary Doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense2009
Global Economy Prize2007
Meister Eckhart Prize2007
Honorary Doctor of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne2007
Honorary Doctorate from University of Grenoble-II2002
Honorary Doctorate2002
Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought2000
Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel1998
Honorary Doctorate of the University of the Mediterranean - Aix Marseille II1998
Catalonia International Prize1997
Edinburgh Medal1997
Honorary Doctor of the University of Antwerp1995
Honorary Doctor of the University of Valencia1994
Honorary Doctor of Caen University1987
Fellow of the Econometric Society1968
Adam Smith Prize1954
Bharat Ratna
Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit
Honorary Doctor of the University of Padua
Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association
Honorary Fellow of Bangla Academy
Fellow of the British Academy
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Honorary Doctor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Grotius Lectures
Honorary Doctor of the University of Calcutta

Family

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About this person

Born in Bengal in 1933, Amartya Sen studied economics through the lens of hunger and choice in a country that knew both intimately. His doctoral work led him to England and the U.S. from 1972 onward, where he rebuilt welfare economics around capabilities - what people can actually do and be - rather than income alone. The Nobel came in 1998 for contributions to social choice and welfare theory; India gave him the Bharat Ratna a year later. He taught at Cambridge as master of Trinity College before moving to Harvard, where he holds a university professorship in economics and philosophy. In 2020 the German Book Trade honored him for work on global justice, health, and education - the through-line of a career spent making deprivation visible in equations.

Country
India
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
living
Dates
Born 1933 · age 92

In common with Amartya

Francis FukuyamaBoth received Johan Skytte Prize in Political ScienceFriedrich HayekBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelPaul SamuelsonBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelDani RodrikBoth received Albert O. Hirschman PrizeElinor OstromBoth received Johan Skytte Prize in Political ScienceClaude Lévi-StraussBoth received Meister Eckhart Prize

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