Frame It Again
New Tools for Rational Decision-Making

Learn how to tackle personal dilemmas and the deadlock of political discourse by using this book's rational framing techniques.

José Luis Bermúdez (Author)

9781107192935, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 November 2020

340 pages
23.4 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.63 kg

'Bermudez's book is a welcome contribution to the important, broader task of problematizing and challenging the powerful narrative that he labels the litany of irrationality.' Fay Niker, Economics and Philosophy

Framing effects are everywhere. An estate tax looks very different to a death tax. Gun safety seems to be one thing and gun control another. Yet, the consensus from decision theorists, finance professionals, psychologists, and economists is that frame-dependence is completely irrational. This book challenges that view. Some of the toughest decisions we face are just clashes between different frames. It is perfectly rational to value the same thing differently in two different frames, even when the decision-maker knows that these are really two sides of the same coin. Frame It Again sheds new light on the structure of moral predicaments, the nature of self-control, and the rationality of co-operation. Framing is a powerful tool for redirecting public discussions about some of the most polarizing contemporary issues, such as gun control, abortion, and climate change. Learn effective problem-solving and decision-making to get the better of difficult dilemmas.

1. Priming the pump: Framing and the litany of human irrationality
2. Framing: The classic experiments
3. Where the rubber hits the road: Frames, investors, and markets
4. Juliet's principle
5. Rational frames
6. Agamemnon and climate change
7. Framing temptation and reward: The challenges of self-control
8. Chickens and chariot races: Framing in game theory
9. Fair's fair: Framing for cooperation and fairness
10. Getting past No: Discursive deadlock and the power of frames
11. Opening the door to non-Archimedean reasoning
Appendix. Frames in the brain

Subject Areas: Management decision making [KJMD], Economics [KC], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Decision theory: general [GPQ]