What this paper has to do with the theory of rational choice is not clear. Still, I won't apologize. The ideas here grow out of a study of some applications of rationalism. It seems to me that the rationalist model neglects a great deal. This is not a criticism. Every model abstracts from nature. But the aspects of choosing what this model ignores are often those we most need to note in order to explain behavior. And we need to bring them out for other purposes too. Hence this essay toward a fuller analysis.

First about rational choice theory itself. On the rationalist theory, every person pursues his interests, and, in particular, pursues them in a certain way. He considers the consequences of his options, and chooses that option whose consequences he prefers to the consequences of each of the others.