Cyril Hédoin

Philosophy, Politics & Economics

"No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize,

that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect

to whatever conclusion it leads"

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

I am full professor of Economics at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. This is my academic webpage where you can find information on my research and teachings.

I have a blog on Substack, "The Archimedean Point". Do not hesitate to subscribe (it's free!)

Google Scholar profile

Important Announcement: New book coming soon!

My book Social Choice & Public Reason. On The Possibility of Agreement and Justification in Open Societies will soon be published by Oxford University Press, in the "Philosophy, Politics, and Economics" series.

How is it possible to justify social choices to individuals when these choices unavoidably interfere with their freedom and when individuals disagree about most relevant considerations? This fundamental question about how to live together assumes pressing significance in contemporary liberal and open societies marked by unprecedented diversity and pluralism. While such diversity creates opportunities to improve lives, it also poses acute moral, political, and social challenges. In Social Choice and Public Reason, economist and philosopher Cyril Hédoin addresses these challenges by bringing together two major intellectual traditions: social choice theory and public reason liberalism.

This book introduces a new framework for addressing how agreement and justification become possible in open societies: The Public Reason Model of Social Choice and connects this model with a game-theoretic account of rule-following behavior. It examines how this framework applies to complex societies characterized by deep moral pluralism and pervasive disagreement, identifying several forms of disagreement within the Public Reason Model. Additionally, it considers political institutions that enable public justification in open societies prone to moral disagreement.

Drawing on normative economics, game theory, and political and social philosophy, Social Choice and Public Reason offers a novel and ambitious theoretical treatment of a foundational issue for contemporary liberal societies.

Research topics, current projects, and interests

I am what some call a "philosopher of economics." My research and interests belong at the intersection of economics and philosophy. From this perspective, I have investigated a large range of topics, from the nature of institutions to the normative implication of behavioral economics, as well as the articulation between social choice theory and public reason liberalism. My most recent research is mostly about liberalism and its crisis, an issue that I tackle from a "Philosophy-Politics-Economics" (PPE) perspective. In the short and mid-run, I plan to start research projects about the limits of political knowledge on the one hand, and the relevance of the idea of public reason in the age of populist politics, on the other hand.

More information about my past and current research can be found on my publications list and in the work-in-progress section. My complete CV can be downloaded here. On top of academic articles and books, I also write a blog/newsletter on the Substack platform. There, I regularly publish short essays, many of which are related to my research, though in a more accessible and readable format.

Contact info:

Cyril Hédoin

REGARDS research center, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France

57bis, rue Pierre Taittinger 51096 Reims, France

Email: cyril.hedoin@univ-reims.fr