The Power of Frames: Rethinking Models of Rational Decision-Making Grant uri icon

abstract

  • Should values and decisions be influenced by how we frame the outcomes we confront and the choices we have to make? The orthodox view (as found, for example, in psychology and behavioral economics) is that any such influence is fundamentally irrational. The goal of this project is a book, The Power of Frames (under contract to Cambridge University Press) in which I will argue against this orthodox view. Problems with standard ways of thinking about framing emerge when we apply insights from philosophy and related areas of the humanities. The book explores a range of cases illustrating how frame-sensitivity is an integral part of rational decision-making. I draw on examples from Greek and Shakespearean tragedy, ethical dilemmas, group identification, social coordination, and practical psychological problems such as exercising self-control in the face of temptation.

date/time interval

  • 2018