Satisficing and Maximizing: Moral Theorists on Practical Reason by Michael Byron

ISBN: 9780521010054

Cambridge University Press | 19 July 2004

Paperback | 256 pages

This collection of essays explores two competing views of practical rationality. How do we think about what we plan to do? One dominant answer is that we select the best possible option available. However, a growing number of philosophers would offer a different reply: since we are not equipped to maximize, we often choose the next best alternative—one that is no more than satisfactory. This strategy choice is called satisficing (a term coined by the economist Herbert Simon). The essays examine the consequences for moral theory in general and the theory of practical rationality in particular, addressing audiences interested in decision theory, ethics, economics, psychology, and political science.