The course focuses on analyzing choice from two perspectives: "freedom to choose" and "freedom from choosing." Rationalists argue that bad choices result from poor decision-making and that individuals are to blame. However, how people make or avoid making choices is influenced not only by personal factors but also by the social environment in which decision-making occurs.
Poor or good choice-making can be influenced by various conditions, which may be attributed to individuals and/or the social environment:
Income constraints (environment/individual)
Lack of knowledge (environment/individual)
Lack of information (environment/individual)
Lack of [good] choices (environment)
Limited access to choices (environment/individual)
Lack of freedom or too much freedom (environment)
Laziness or decision-making fatigue (environment/individual)
Analyzing choice behaviors by considering these conditions can help uncover underlying problems and improve solutions.
The course draws on arguments from the works of Daniel Kahneman, Cass R. Sunstein, Richard Thaler, Peter L. Berger and T. Luckmann, Niklas Luhmann, Herbert A. Simon, among others.