Highlights
Alumni Profile: Erik Angner
What degrees and certificates do you hold?
BA, Philosophy and Mathematics, University of Uppsala, Sweden
MA, Philosophy, University of Uppsala, Sweden
PhD, Economics, Pitt
PhD, History and Philosophy of Science, Pitt
The two PhDs might require some explanation. I first came to Pitt to be a PhD student in History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). Like many other people in that department—which is the top-ranked HPS department in the world for a reason; it’s a place where people take their work very seriously—I decided that I wouldn’t be a credible philosopher of science without knowing a great deal about the science of interest, which in my case was economics.
After I started taking econ courses, though, there was some mission creep. In large part because of the extraordinarily supportive and open-minded econ faculty, I joined their PhD program as well. It goes without saying that pursuing two PhDs at the same time can be rather intense, but in the end I managed to defend twice—and get a job.
What is your current job title and nature of your employment?
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Department of Finance, Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
I also have an appointment at the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education, at the same institution.
What part of the country/world do you live?
Birmingham, Alabama. From one steel town to another.
Are you currently working on any projects or conducting any research?
Yup. I just finished a book that traces the historical roots of the thought of the economist and 1974 Nobel laureate Friedrich A. Hayek. The book is scheduled to be published by Routledge next year.
Now, I am completing a series of articles on the philosophical foundations of welfare measurement. You may have read about “subjective well being” in the popular press recently—that’s what I’m working on.
Meanwhile, I’m involved in a big research project with a team in the UAB School of Medicine on happiness and disparities in health care, among other things. The long-term goal of this study is to explore what it is, exactly, that makes us happy.
Finally, I’ve started another project on the foundations of behavioral economics, which is the effort to provide economics with more psychologically plausible foundations, and I’m doing some experimental economics on the side.
I’d also like to add that I do a great deal of teaching, in both philosophy and economics. After spending so much time in school, it’s deeply satisfying to get the opportunity to share some of the things I believe I have learned during my studies.
What personal hobbies/activities do you enjoy?
At this point in my career, for better or worse, I don’t dedicate a lot of time to hobbies. I’ve never understood how people who play golf get any work done! Still, I’ve always enjoyed traveling, and try to do as much of it as I can, often in connection with professional conferences.
Also, I love languages; I’m reasonably fluent in four, have studied two more, and have plenty of others on my to-do list.
On days off, I occasionally travel around town on my Vespa scooter from 1965. The weather in Birmingham is certainly more scooter friendly than that of Pittsburgh.
Why did you decide to attend the University of Pittsburgh for your graduate work?
The reason why I came to Pitt is that it’s commonly recognized as the best place in the world to do philosophy of science.
At first, I was a visiting student, intending to go back to my native Sweden to finish my studies. But then I realized that people at Pitt weren’t just smart and knowledgeable, but nice and friendly as well. Also, I came to like the city quite a bit; now I really miss it. So after the first year, there wasn’t any doubt in my mind that I should stay.
Do you have any advice you would like to share with our future graduate students?
One thing that I learned is the importance of the people you’ll be working with as a graduate student. I wouldn’t deny that official rankings and that sort of thing matter. Equally important, however, are the personal qualities of the people who will be your professors and fellow graduate students—whether they are willing to spend time with you, read your work, challenge you, and so on. In all these respects, the people I met at Pitt were just amazing.
