Choose wisely : rationality, ethics, and the art of decision-making / Barry Schwartz, Richard Schuldenfrei.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwartz, Barry, 1946- author.

Schuldenfrei, Richard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Decision making.

Decision making--Moral and ethical aspects.

Choice (Psychology).

Thought and thinking.

Ethical intuitionism.

Reasoning.

decision making.

thinking.

Physical Description:

xiii, 277 pages ; 22 cm

Other Title:

Rationality, ethics, and the art of decision-making

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"For many decision scientists, their starting point--drawn from economics--is a quantitative formula called rational choice theory, allowing people to calculate and choose the best options. The problem is that this framework assumes an overly simplistic picture of the world, in which different types of values can be quantified and compared, leading to the 'most rational' choice. Behavioral economics acknowledges that irrationality is common but still accepts the underlying belief from economics of what a rational decision should look like. In this book, Barry Schwartz and Richard Schuldenfrei offer a different way to think about the choices we make every day. Drawing from economics, psychology, and philosophy--and both inspired by and challenging Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow--they show how the focus on rationality, narrowly understood, fails to fully describe how we think about our decisions, much less help us make better ones. Notably, it overlooks the positive contribution that framing--how we determine what aspects are most important to us--contributes to good decisions. Schwartz and Schuldenfrei argue that our choices should be informed by our individual 'constellation of virtues,' allowing for a far richer understanding of the decisions we make and helping us to live more integrated and purposeful lives."-- Publisher's website.

Contents:

Introduction: A day in the life

How we should decide: rational choice theory

Rational choice theory: specification of options and attributes

Quantifying probability

Quantifying value

Rational choice theory and the framing of decisions

Framing, leakage, and substantive rationality

Interim summary of the argument

Why rational choice theory is dangerous

An alternative to rational choice theory

Rational choice theory and history

Rational choice theory and ideology

Conclusion

Coda.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (265-270) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780300283990

0300283997

OCLC:

1499673115