The Myth of Choice
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Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits
Kent Greenfield
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Freedom of choice is at the core of the American story. But what if choice is fake?
Americans are fixated on the idea of choice. Our political theory is based on the consent of the governed. Our legal system is built upon the argument that people freely make choices and bear responsibility for them. And what slogan could better express the heart of our consumer culture than "Have it your way"?
In this provocative book, Kent Greenfield poses unsettling questions about the choices we make. What if they are more constrained and limited than we like to think? If we have less free will than we realize, what are the implications for us as individuals and for our society? To uncover the answers, Greenfield taps into scholarship on topics ranging from brain science to economics, political theory to sociology. His discoveries—told through an entertaining array of news events, personal anecdotes, crime stories, and legal decisions—confirm that many factors, conscious and unconscious, limit our free will. Worse, by failing to perceive them we leave ourselves open to manipulation. But Greenfield offers useful suggestions to help us become better decision makers as individuals, and to ensure that in our laws and public policy we acknowledge the complexity of choice.
Kent Greenfield is professor of law and law fund research scholar, Boston College. He is author of The Failure of Corporate Law: Fundamental Flaws and Progressive Possibilities and numerous scholarly law articles. He lives in Cambridge, MA.
“A fascinating account of the constraints on personal choice, and the consequences of those constraints for sexuality, religion, politics, law, and everyday life.”—Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime
"An excellent and insightful book that is remarkably fun to read. Greenfield mixes wit, personal anecdote, and hard data from a range of disciplines to reveal how our fixation on personal responsibility often allows people in power to avoid responsibility. If you're looking for a counterpoint to the Tea Party, this is it."—Adam Winkler, author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America
"Kent Greenfield has a refreshing way of looking at whole fields—law, politics, economics, biology—and seeing the principles we use to organize them. He is also an engaging writer whose light touch belies the weight of the ideas he juggles so effortlessly. You should read this book."—John Garvey, President, The Catholic University of America
“Kent Greenfield argues in lively, accessible style that much of what we experience as choice is better understood as the product of circumstance. His challenge is meant to unsettle our beliefs, our judgments, and our values—and it does.” —Noah Feldman, author of Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices
"Kent Greenfield has written a brilliant, profoundly thought-provoking book about the many constraints on decision-making, from the most personal choices to those of the highest government officials."—Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law
"Through entertaining and illuminating references that run the gamut from The Sopranos and fast food jingles to scientific studies and Supreme Court cases, Greenfield explodes cherished beliefs about free will that inform our “law and politics and life." Read it as a valuable guide to improved public policies and personal life decisions—or just for the sheer fun of it."—Dawn Johnsen, Walter W. Foskett Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
"Greenfield provides gripping examples of how the rhetoric of choice masks the legal and social limitations of our ability to make informed decisions."—Sheena S. Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing
Publication Date: November 13, 2012
21 b/w illus.
