----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- At least among the top graduate schools an interest in metaphysics is not what will likely get one into graduate school, or what they are looking for. I'm in the process of updating my Making of an Economist and have found that the students are more focused on math than they were. (They were also less concerned about it because their math training is much better than before.) John might take a look at my essay on Vision, Judgment and Disagreement among Economists, which is reprinted in The Lost Art of Economics. Some of the other essays in that book might be relevant also. That said, once you make it through the first couple of years you are pretty much free to do what you want at top graduate schools. So, if he is willing to focus on technical aspects for the first couple of years, he can go to any top graduate school. If I were forced to choose a small number of schools four come to mind immediately. I'm sure there are others. UC Davis has Kevin Hoover who is well trained in philosophy and asks interesting questions in a way that is relevant to the mainstream. Wisconsin has Steve Durlauf and Buz Brock, both of whom are highly mathematical but who are leading the way in exploring complexity. Duke has Roy Weintraub and Neil DeMarchi who are doing interesting work in the history of thought. Duke is about the only top-ranked mainstream program that has a history of thought program. Finally, Harvard gives students much freedom, and one can branch out there easier than at many other schools. Dave ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]