Rational Choice, Itzhak Gilboa, MIT Press, 2010, xv + 158 pages.

Abstract

Itzhak Gilboa's book aims at introducing rational choice theory to a readership without prior knowledge of the field.It presents the fundamental ideas and concepts, not, or very little, the mathematics behind them.Gilboa gives priority to intuitive explanations and illustrative examples.The mathematical details are relegated to the online Appendix.Rational Choice Theory encompasses decision theory, game theory and social choice theory, as practiced today not only in theoretical economics, but also in computer science, logic and philosophy.One of the main assets of the book is in fact to show how close the concerns in rational choice theory are to those in many areas of philosophy.This is a very good book, but one that should be 'Rated PG', or rather LG for 'lecturer's guidance'.The highly pedagogical introduction to the key concepts of Rational Choice Theory touches a lot of fundamental questions in philosophy, but there are not enough references for the student or the newcomer to see the points of contact clearly.This review tries to bring some of them into light. Individual Decision Making:The first part of the book touches issues classically pertaining to Decision Theory.Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts, the most crucial one being, unsurprisingly, rationality.Gilboa's claim that rationality, as understood in rational choice theory, is also accepted by 'most psychologist and behavioral decision theorists', is refreshingly controversial, and to a large extent correct, although it doesn't quite do justice to the literature on 'ecological rationality' (cf.Gigerenzer and Selten 2002).His own view on rationality is subjective and dynamic: 'a mode of behavior is rational for a given person if [he] feels comfortable with it, and is not embarrassed by [read here: would not be willing to

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