Bruin, Prof. Boudewijn de
Boudewijn de Bruin (1974) is professor of Financial Ethics at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen. This chair, the first of its kind in the Netherlands, is a response to the widespread social desire to train future economists and business administrators in ethics. ‘The economic crisis has demonstrated the need for financial ethics,’ says De Bruin. ‘You only have to think of issues to do with bonuses, government support for banks, or the bankers’ oath. However, Financial Ethics is barely out of the starting blocks as an academic discipline. That means that there are a lot of possibilities, both for teaching and for new research projects.’ De Bruin makes use of methodologies from disciplines such as philosophical ethics, mathematical game theory and logic for his research into ethics in the financial sector.
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Wat doen emoties met ons gedrag? [How do emotions affect our behaviour?]
De Bruin studied composition for a year at music school, and mathematics and philosophy in Amsterdam, Berkeley and Harvard. He gained his PhD with a thesis on game theory and epistemic logics. Alongside his professorship, De Bruin is a University Reader in Ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy.
In early 2016 he was awarded an NWO grant worth € 700,000 to investigate the consequences of repeated exposure to stereotypes of a particular population group – including the foolish and clumsy Zwarte Piet.
Previously in the news
-
'Pension fund can never really get it right' (in Dutch)
Contact and further information
Publications
2025
de
Grefte, J., & de Bruin, B. (2025).
Sustainable finance, biodiversity, and greenwashing: how
contested values, metrics, and causation facilitate information
distortion, information omission, and information pollution.
Current Opinion in Environmental
Sustainability , 74, Article 101522. Advance
online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101522
2024
de
Bruin, B. (2024). Climate change and reflexive law:
The EU sustainable finance action plan. In J. Sandberg,
& L. Warenski (Eds.), The Philosophy of Money and
Finance (pp. 148-168). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192898807.003.0009
de
Bruin, B., Cherednychenko, O. O., Hermes,
N., Kramer, M., & Meyer, M. (2024).
Demand for Financial Advice: Evidence from a Randomized
Choice Experiment. Journal of Banking and
Finance, 163(June ), 1-13. Article 107193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2024.107193
Malsch,
M., de Wit, J., & de Bruin, B.
(2024). Kennis en ervaring met het recht maakt burger
realistischer. Nederlands Juristenblad
NJB, 9, 600-606.
2023
de
Bruin, B., Herzog, L., O'Neill, M., &
Sandberg, J. (2023). Philosophy of Money and
Finance. In E. N. Zalta, & U. Nodelman (Eds.),
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Metaphysics Research Lab Center for
the Study of Language and Information Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/money-finance/
de
Bruin, B., Zaal, R., & Jeurissen, R.
(2023). Pitting Virtue Ethics Against Situationism: An
Empirical Argument for Virtue. Ethical Theory and
Moral Practice, 26, 463–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-023-10381-5
de
Bruin, B. (2023). Ranking philosophy journals: a
meta-ranking and a new survey ranking.
Synthese, 202(6), Article 188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-023-04342-9
2022
de
Bruin, B. (2022). Against Nationalism: Climate Change,
Human Rights, and International Law. Danish
Yearbook of Philosophy, 55(2), 173-198. https://doi.org/10.1163/24689300-20221060
Böhm,
S., Carrington, M., Cornelius, N., de Bruin, B.,
Greenwood, M., Hassan, L., Jain, T., Karam, C., Kourula, A.,
Romani, L., Riaz, S., & Shaw, D. (2022). Ethics at the
Centre of Global and Local Challenges: Thoughts on the Future of
Business Ethics. Journal of Business
Ethics, 180(3), 835-861. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05239-2
de
Rooij, B., & de Bruin, B. (2022).
Real-life collective epistemic virtue and vice. In M.
Alfano, C. Klein, & J. de Ridder (Eds.), Social Virtue
Epistemology (pp. 396-414). Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367808952-53
Bruin,
B. D. (2022). The business of liberty: freedom and
information in ethics, politics, and law. Oxford
University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198839675.001.0001
2021
Meyer,
M., Alfano, M., & De Bruin, B. (2024).
Epistemic vice predicts acceptance of Covid-19
misinformation. Episteme,
21(1), 207–228. https://doi.org/10.1017/epi.2021.18
Meyer,
M., Alfano, M., & de Bruin, B. (2024). The
Development and Validation of the Epistemic Vice Scale.
Review of Philosophy and Psychology,
15, 355-382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-021-00562-5
Vergara-Fernández,
M., & de Bruin, B. (2021). Finance
and Financial Economics: A Philosophy of Science
Perspective. In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of
Economics (pp. 198-208). Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739793-17
de
Bruin, B. (2021). Knowledge attribution, socioeconomic
status, and education: New results using the Great British Class
Survey. Synthese, 199,
7615-7657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03131-6
de
Bruin, B. (2021). Saving the armchair by experiment:
what works in economics doesn’t work in philosophy.
Philosophical Studies, 78(8),
2483–2508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-020-01559-z
2020
de
Bruin, B. (2020). Epistemic Corporate Culture:
Knowledge, Common Knowledge, and Professional Oaths.
Seattle University Law Review,
43(2), 807-839.
2019
de
Bruin, B. (2021). Epistemic Injustice in
Finance. Topoi, 40,
755–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-019-09677-y
Nottelmann,
N., & de Bruin, B. (2021). Impermissible
Self‑Rationalizing Pessimism: In Defence of a Pragmatic
Ethics of Belief. Erkenntnis,
86, 257-274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-019-00103-8
Booth,
A., & de Bruin, B. (2021). Stakes
Sensitivity and Credit Rating: A New Challenge for
Regulators. Journal of Business
Ethics, 169, 169-179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04260-2
de
Bruin, B., & Endörfer, R. (2019). Freedom in
Finance: The Importance of Epistemic Virtues and Interlucent
Communication. In C. Cowton, J. Dempsey, & T. Sorell
(Eds.), Business Ethics after the Global Financial Crisis:
Lessons from the Crash (pp. 104-130). (Routledge Studies in
Business Ethics). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429447839
2018
Bruin,
de, B. (2018). Le « cloud »: éthique du
nuage informatique. In M. Doueihi , & J. Domenicucci
(Eds.), La confiance à l’ère
numérique Berger-Levrault.
de
Bruin, B. (2018). Moral Responsibility for Large-Scale
Events: The Difference between Climate Change and Economic
Crises. In PA. French, HK. Wettstein, J. Dempsey, & T.
Sorell (Eds.), Moral responsibility and the financial
crisis (pp. 191-212). (Midwest Studies in Philosophy; Vol.
42). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/misp.12090
de
Bruin, B., Herzog, L. M., O'Neill, M.,
& Sandberg, J. (2018). Philosophy of Money and
Finance. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
Metaphysics Research Lab Center for the Study of Language and
Information Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/money-finance/
2017
Bruin,
de, B. (2017). Information as a Condition of Justice
in Financial Markets: The Regulation of Credit-Rating
Agencies. In L. Herzog (Ed.), Just Financial Markets?
Finance in a Just Society (pp. 250-270). Oxford University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198755661.003.0011
Bruin,
de, B. (2017). Oaths, Professional. In D. C.
Poff, & A. C. Michalos (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Business and
Professional Ethics Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_69-1
Bruin,
de, B., & Walter, C. (2017). Research Habits in
Financial Modelling: The Case of Non-normativity of Market Returns
in the 1970s and the 1980s. In E. Ippoliti, & P. Chen
(Eds.), Methods and Finance: A Unifying View on Finance,
Mathematics and Philosophy (pp. 73-93). (Studies in Applied
Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics; Vol. 34). Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-319-49872-0_5
de
Bruin, B., & Floridi, L. (2017). The ethics of
cloud computing. Science and Engineering
Ethics, 23(1), 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-016-9759-0
2016
de
Bruin, B. (2016). Pledging integrity: Oaths as forms
of business management. Journal of Business
Ethics, 136(1), 23-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2504-1
2015
de
Bruin, B. (2015). Ethics and the global financial
crisis: Why incompetence is worse than greed.
(Business, value creation, and society). Cambridge University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139237093
2014
de
Bruin, B. (2014). Alcohol in the Media and Young
People: What Do We Need for Liberal Policy-making?
Public Health Ethics, 7(1), 35-46.
https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phu004
de
Bruin, B. (2014). Epistemically Virtuous Risk
Management: Financial Due Diligence and Uncovering the Madoff
Fraud. In C. Luetge, & J. Jauernig (Eds.), Risk
Management and Business Ethics (pp. 27-42). (Ethical Economy;
Vol. 43). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7441-4_3
Bruin,
de, B. (2014). Ethics Management in Banking and
Finance. In N. Morris, & D. Vines (Eds.), Capital
Failure: Rebuilding Trust in Financial Services (pp.
255–276). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198712220.003.0012
de
Bruin, B. (2014). Professional oaths in the financial
services industry. In R. C. Chandler (Ed.), Business and
Corporate Integrity: Sustaining Organizational Compliance, Ethics
and Trust (pp. 121-140). Praeger.
2013
Fontrodona,
J., Sison, A. J. G., & de Bruin, B. (2013).
Editorial Introduction: Putting Virtues Into Practice. A
Challenge for Business and Organizations. Journal
of Business Ethics, 113(4), 563-565. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1679-1
de
Bruin, B. (2013). Epistemic integrity in accounting:
Accountants as Justifiers in Joint Epistemic A.
Business & professional ethics journal,
32(1-2), 109-130. https://doi.org/10.5840/bpej2013321/25
de
Bruin, B. (2013). Epistemic Virtues in
Business. Journal of Business Ethics,
113(4), 583-595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1677-3
de
Bruin, B. (2013). Epistemische deugden en de
wereldwijde financiële crisis. Filosofie
& Praktijk, 34(4), 5-14.
de
Bruin, B. P., & Dolfsma, W. A. (2013). Oaths and
codes in economics and business. Review of Social
Economy, 71(2), 135 - 139.
de
Bruin, B. (2013). Socially responsible investment in
the alcohol industry: an assesment of investor attitudes and
ethical arguments. Contemporary social
science, 8(1), 58-70.
de
Bruin, B. (2013). The Epistemology of Religious
Testimony. Philo, 16(1),
95-111.
2010
de
Bruin, B. P. (2010). Explaining games: the
epistemic programme in game theory. (Synthese library :
Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of
Science; Vol. v. 346). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9906-9
de
Bruin, B. P. (2010). Interactive epistemology.
In G. Cheng, & N. Xia (Eds.), Duoyuan: Volume of Analytic
Philosophy (pp. 336 - 360). Joint Publishing.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2010). Onbeperkte twijfel is
misplaatst. Trouw.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2010). The liberal value of
privacy. Law and Philosophy,
29(5), 505 - 534.
2009
de
Bruin, B. (2009). Doxastische en epistemische
vrijheid. Tijdschrift voor Filosofie,
71(3), 529-552. https://doi.org/10.2143/TVF.71.3.2042677
de
Bruin, B. (2009). Liberal and Republican
Freedom. Journal of Political
Philosophy, 17(4), 418-439. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2009.00334.x
de
Bruin, B. P. (2009). On the narrow epistemology of
game theoretic agents. In O. Majer, A. Pietarinen, & T.
Tulenheimo (Eds.), Games: Unifying Logic, Language, and
Philosophy (pp. 27 - 36). Springer.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2009). Over de wetenschappelijkheid van
de rechtswetenschap. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor
Rechtsfilosofie en Rechtstheorie, 38(3), 236 -
243.
de
Bruin, B. (2009). Overmathematisation in game theory:
pitting the Nash Equilibrium Refinement Programme against the
Epistemic Programme. Studies in History and
Philosophy of Science. Part A, 40(3), 290-300.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2009.06.005
de
Bruin, B. P. (2009). The Liberal Value of
Privacy. Law and Philosophy,
29(5), 505 - 534.
de
Bruin, B. (2009). The logic of valuing. In T.
Boylen, & R. Gekker (Eds.), Economics, Rational Choice and
Normative Philosophy (pp. 164-172). (Routledge Frontiers of
Political Economy; Vol. 116). Routledge.
de
Bruin, B. (2009). We and the plural subject.
Philosophy of the Social Sciences,
39(2), 235-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393109332124
2008
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). A note on list's modal logic of
republican freedom. Politics, Philosophy &
Economics, 7(3), 341-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X08092107
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Bijsturen, of herzien. Recensie
van Silvio Funtowicz, Lieve Goorden, John Grin en Pieter Leroyet.
Wetenschap, maatschappij, politiek: wie stuurt wie?
Openbaar Bestuur. Tijdschrift voor beleid, organisatie en
politiek, 18(3), 36 - 36.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Common knowledge of payoff
uncertainty in games. Synthese,
163(1), 79-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-007-9275-5
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Common knowledge of rationality
in games. Notre Dame Journal of Formal
Logic, 49(3), 261-280. https://doi.org/10.1215/00294527-2008-011
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Epistemic logic and
epistemology. In F. Hendricks, & D. Pritchard (Eds.),
New Waves in Epistemology (pp. 106 - 136). Palgrave
MacMillan.
de
Bruin, B. (2008). Media Violence and Freedom of
Speech: How to Use Empirical Data. Ethical Theory
and Moral Practice, 11(5), 493-505. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-008-9125-7
de
Bruin, B. P., & Zurn, C. (Eds.) (2008). New
waves in political philosophy. (New waves in
philosophy). Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230234994
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). On Glazer and Rubinstein on
persuasion. In R. Krzystof, R. van Rooij, & R. Apt
(Eds.), New perspectives on games and interaction (pp. 141
- 150). Amsterdam University Press.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Reducible and nonsensical uses of
game theory. Philosophy of the Social
Sciences, 38(2), 247-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393108315557
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). The logic of valuing. In
T. Boylan, & R. Gekker (Eds.), Economics, Rational Choice
and Normative Philosophy (pp. 164 - 172). Routledge.
de
Bruin, B. (2008). The logic of valuing. In T.
Boylan, & R. Gekker (Eds.), Economics, Rational Choice and
Normative Philosophy (pp. 164-172). (Routledge Frontiers of
Political Economy). Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203887646
de
Bruin, B. P. (2008). Wittgenstein on Circularity in
the Frege-Russell Definition of Cardinal Number.
Philosophia Mathematica, 16(3),
354-373. https://doi.org/10.1093/philmat/nkn002
2007
de
Bruin, B. P. (2007). Normen en snavels: ook ethiek
heeft een evolutionaire oorsprong, review of Buskes, C.,
Evolutionair denken, Van Hooff, J., Gedragsbiologie, De Waall,
Primates and philosophers, Joyce, R. The evolution of
morality. De Academische Boekengids,
62, 3 - 5.
2006
de
Bruin, B. P., & Rol, M. E. G. M. (2006).
Onderwijs moet gratis (maar niet voor iederen).
NRC.next.
de
Bruin, B. P., & Robeyns, I. (2006). Over
Martha Nussbaum's Frontiers of Justice. In: special issue Filosofie
en Praktijk. Uitgeverij Damon.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2006). Popper's Conception of the
Rationality Principle in the Social Sciences. In D. Miller,
K. Milford, & I. Jarvie (Eds.), Karl Popper: A Centenary
Assessment: Volume III: Science Ashgate Publishing.
de
Bruin, B. P. (2006). Versneden vrijheid: Over
onbenutte mogelijkheden als meetbaar kapitaal. Review of Carter. I.
(1999), A Measure of Freedom and Kramer, M. (2003), The Quality of
Freedom. De Academische Boekengids,
58, 13 - 14.
2005
de
Bruin, B. P. (2005). Game theory in philosophy.
Topoi: An International Review of Philosophy,
24(2), 197-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-005-5055-3
de
Bruin, B. P. (2005). Videoclip is niet zomaar
meningsuiting. De Volkskrant, 12 -
12.
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