The course focuses on the analysis of choice from the two perspectives: “freedom to choose” and “freedom from choosing.” Rationalists argue that bad choices are the result of bad decision-making and the individuals are the ones to blame. How people make or do not make choices are, in fact, influenced not only by who they are, but also by the social environment where the decision-making takes place. Poor/good choice-making are the consequences of the following conditions which can be attributed to the individuals and/or the social environment: 1.Income constraints (environment/individual); and/or 2. Lack of knowledge (environment/individual); and/or 3. Lack of information (environment/individual); and/or 4. Lack of [good] choices (environment); and/or 5. Limited access to choices (environment/individual); and/or 6. Lack of freedom or Too much Freedom (environment); and/or 7. Laziness/ Decision [making] Fatigue (environment/ individual)
Analysis of choice behaviors and how people make choices by considering these conditions above would help uncover where the problems may lie, thus improving the solution matters.
The course draws on some arguments from the works of Daniel Kahneman, Cass R. Sunstein, Richard Thaler, Peter L. Berger and T. Luckmann, Niklas Luhmann, Hebert A. Simon, among others