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  3. Ulysses Unbound
  • Cited by 441
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      07 December 2009
      28 March 2000
      ISBN:
      9780511625008
      9780521662130
      9780521665612
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625008
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.555kg, 322 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.431kg, 324 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Social Psychology, Philosophy, Psychology, Political Philosophy
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    Subjects:
    Social Psychology, Philosophy, Psychology, Political Philosophy
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    Book description

    Common sense suggests that it is always preferable to have more options than fewer, and better to have more knowledge than less. This provocative book argues that, very often, common sense fails. Sometimes it is simply the case that less is more; people may benefit from being constrained in their options or from being ignorant. The three long essays that constitute this book revise and expand the ideas developed in Jon Elster's classic study Ulysses and the Sirens. It is not simply a new edition of the earlier book, though; many of the issues merely touched on before are explored here in much more detail. Elster shows how seemingly disparate examples which limit freedom of action reveal similar patterns, so much so that he proposes a new field of study: constraint theory. The book is written in Elster's characteristically vivid style and will interest professionals and students in philosophy, political science, psychology, and economics.

    Reviews

    "All three sections of the book are rich in historical examples. Elster is very good at illustrating his points with concrete cases, at seeing connections among disparate fields, and at steering discussions in novel and very suggestive directions. ... Elster is at his best in raising interesting questions for further interdisciplinary research." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

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