Profile
Abstract
Thomas Voss studied philosophy and social sciences at the University of Bochum. He earned his PhD (Dr. rer. pol.) in 1984 and his habilitation (Dr. rer. pol. habil.) in 1990 at the University of Munich. After serving as a Visiting Asst. Professor at the University of Chicago (graduate school) where he taught Game Theory and Quantitative Research Methods he has been Full Professor of sociology at the University of Leipzig since 1992. He held the chair on sociological theory and history of social theory until 2021.
His research deals with social theory, in particular sociological applications of rational choice and game theory. Work in the philosophy of science addresses the logic of explanation within the framework of methodological individualism.
In addition to social theory and introductory sociology courses his teaching covered a large set of subjects, viz. e.g. economic sociology, methods of social research and applied statistics.
Professional career
- 03/2009 - 10/2015
Visiting lectures at ETH Zürich: "Die Entstehung von Kooperationsnormen" and "Institutionen und soziales Handeln" - 09/2001 - 06/2002
Fellow-in-Residence: Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Wassenaar, Netherlands - 10/1992 - 09/2021
Full professor (C4) of sociology (social theory), Institut für Soziologie, Universität Leipzig - 04/1992 - 09/1992
Substitute professor (C4) of sociology, Institut für Soziologie i.G., Universität Leipzig - 02/1992
Offer of a full professorship (C4) for sociology, Universität Leipzig - 10/1991 - 03/1992
Substitute professor (C4) of sociology, Universität Stuttgart - 03/1991 - 04/1991
Research associate University of Utrecht, Netherlands, Dept. of sociology - 01/1991 - 09/1991
Oberassistent (C2), Institut für Soziologie, LMU München - 01/1990 - 07/1990
Visiting Asst. Professor "Quantitative Methods", Dept. of Sociology, The University of Chicago. Lecture courses: Game Theory, Quantitative Research Methods 3: Regression Analysis (graduate level). Host: James S. Coleman - 09/1986 - 10/1986
Visiting scholar: Center for the Study of Public Choice, Dept. of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. (USA) - 06/1984 - 12/1990
Akademischer Rat (Post Doc), Institut für Soziologie, LMU München (chair: Rolf Ziegler) - 06/1980 - 05/1984
Instructor (full-time), Institut für Soziologie, LMU München (chair: Rolf Ziegler) - 04/1975 - 03/1978
Teaching assistant: statistics, methods of social research. Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Education
- 12/1990
Habilitation sociology (Dr. rer. pol. habil.): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - 02/1984
Dr.rer.pol. (PhD) sociology (summa cum laude), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - 10/1980 - 02/1984
PhD-studies: sociology (major), philosophy, statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - 04/1980
Diplom-Sozialwissenschaftler (M.A. equivalent): Ruhr-Universität Bochum ("sehr gut": highest grade) - 10/1974 - 03/1980
University studies Ruhr-Universität Bochum: Social sciences (sociology, methodology/statistics, social psychology), philosophy - 04/1966 - 06/1974
Secondary school / high school (Gymnasium), Dortmund. Foreign languages: English, Latin, French. General University Entrance Certificate (Abitur) - 04/1962 - 03/1966
Primary school, Dortmund
Panel Memberships
- since 07/1986
Co-editor book series "scientia nova", R. Oldenbourg/DeGruyter Publishers, Munich/Berlin - 04/1992 - 06/1994
International Advisory Editor: American Journal of Sociology - 09/1998 - 08/2002
President Research Committee 45 "Rational Choice", International Sociological Association (ISA) - 09/2002 - 08/2006
Board Member Research Committee 45 "Rational Choice" , International Sociological Association (ISA) - 06/2000 - 12/2007
Member of the Advisory Board: Jahrbuch für Handlungs- und Entscheidungstheorie - 01/2010 - 12/2016
Review Editor: Rationality, Markets, and Morality (Frankfurt School of Finance) - since 06/2020
Member of the Advisory Board: Hans-Albert-Institut
Thomas Voss works on problems in analytic social theory and its history, philosophy of social science and sociological methodology. In addition he worked on the sociology of organizations and economic sociology.
The main subject of Voss' work in social theory is rational choice theory and its application on the explanation of social institutions, in particular explanations of cooperation, trust and social norms.
On the occasion of his retirement in 2021, Ivar Krumpal, Werner Raub and Andreas Tutic edited a book (a kind of "Festschrift") that contains critical discussions, evaluations and further developments of views which are related to perspectives on social theory shared by Voss and others.
Reference:
Ivar Krumpal, Werner Raub, Andreas Tutic (Hrsg.): Rationality in Social Science. Foundations, Norms, and Prosociality. Springer, Wiesbaden 2021
- show detailsVoss, T.Roots of sociology as a science: some history of ideasIn: Gërxhani, K.; De Graaf, N. D.; Raub, W. (Eds.)Handbook of Sociological Science - Contributions to Rigorous Sociology. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. 2022. pp. 493–511.
- show detailsKrumpal, I.; Voss, T.Sensitive Questions and Trust: Explaining Respondents' Behavior in Randomized Response SurveysSage open. 2020. 10 (3).
- show detailsVoss, T.Von den britischen Klassikern zur Verhaltensökonomik: Eine kurze Geschichte der Rational-Choice-TheorieIn: Tutic, A. (Ed.)Rational Choice. Berlin: DeGruyter/Oldenbourg. 2020. pp. 3–25.
- show detailsVoss, T.Institutional Design and Human MotivationIn: Buskens, V.; Corten , R.; Snijders, C. (Eds.)Advances in the Sociology of Trust and Cooperation. Berlin: DeGruyter. 2020. pp. 15–40.
- show detailsTutic, A.; Voss, T.; Liebe, U.Low-Cost-Hypothese und Rationalität. Eine neue theoretische Herleitung und einige Implikationen.Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. 2017. 69 (4). pp. 651–672.
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The Emergence of Social Norms
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Collective Goods and Collective Action
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Sociology of Labor Markets
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Aspects of economic sociology
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Introduction to the Sociology of Organizations