Individual Choices in a Non-Consequentialist Framework: A Procedural Approach

Abstract

Non-consequentialist features of a choice procedure may matter. The procedural aspect behind availability of alternatives may induce an individual to abstain from choosing any element at all so that the choice set becomes empty. In this paper, the concept of choice is related to procedural aspects of different kinds. Availability of objects, different aspects of production as such and shrinkages from an originally given set of options to various of its subsets are considered. Rationalizability of choice in such contexts is studied axiomatically. We relate our conditions to the standard consistency conditions from traditional choice theory.