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Nudges Do Not Undermine Human Agency

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Abstract

Some people believe that nudges undermine human agency, but with appropriate nudges, neither agency nor consumer freedom is at risk. On the contrary, nudges can promote both goals. In some contexts, they are indispensable. There is no opposition between education on the one hand and nudges on the other. Many nudges are educative. Even when they are not, they can complement, and not displace, consumer education.

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Acknowledgments

This essay draws on Nudges, Agency, and Abstraction: A Reply, Review of Philosophy and Psychology (forthcoming 2015). I am grateful to Tyler Cowen, Lucia Reisch, and Richard Thaler for valuable discussions.

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  1. Harvard Law School, Harvard University, 1575 Massachusetts Ave, Areeda Hall 225, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Cass R. Sunstein

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  1. Cass R. Sunstein
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Correspondence to Cass R. Sunstein.

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Sunstein, C.R. Nudges Do Not Undermine Human Agency. J Consum Policy 38, 207–210 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-015-9289-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-015-9289-1

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