Noneconomic Decision-Making

Abstract

ECONOMIC rationality has long seemed to many people to be the very essence of all rational planning and decision-making. To many it has seemed self-evident that the way to make reasonable decisions is to evaluate ends in terms of alternative costs and to allocate means in terms of marginal (or comparative) utility. The ultimate objective of all decisions and actions has been assumed to be the maximization of welfare or satisfaction or output per manhour or some other measurable quantity. The principles and rules for this kind of decision-making have been developed in detail by economists, justified by various kinds of utilitarian philosophers, and embodied in countless policy proposals and discussions. In recent decades the defects of utilitarianism and the limitations of the economic viewpoint have become apparent. Yet the economic model of decision-making has retained its appeal, in spite of its limitations, because of its mathematical clarity and simplicity and because of the lack of any clear alternative planning method. Recognition of its limitations has led to several kinds of modification, but these have not changed its basic character. The present article offers an alternative method of decision-making, purposely centered on noneconomic factors of social life. This method also will be seen to have severe limitations, but it is offered in the hope of opening a wider perspective on the general nature of decision-making. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS