On Freedom

This slip of a book can be quickly read, but puts forth important concepts. Its ideas will stay with readers a long time. --Publishers Weekly [A] dazzling little book. --Times Higher Education By redefining freedom, this becomes a book about the meaning of life. --Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Prize-winning economist An important and engaging book on freedom and choice by a top scholar. Sunstein gives us a comprehensive and cutting-edge treatment of his enormously influential work on nudging and well-being. --L. A. Paul, author of Transformative Experience In this eloquent and timely book, Cass Sunstein asks urgent questions relevant to the crisis of democracy in which we find ourselves. As the author has demonstrated in the past, he is a thoughtful navigator of territory we may have prematurely believed we understood. --Joyce Carol Oates On Freedom is an elegant, clear, deceptively simple book about a fiendishly complex problem. How can free societies help citizens to navigate among a perplexing multitude of forking paths, only some of which lead toward desirable ends? How is a nudge in the right direction distinct from coercion? What is the best way to enable people to choose paths that enhance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Drawing on a wealth of probing examples from social policy, literature, and his own experience, Sunstein brilliantly illuminates the challenges that face governments and individuals and sketches plausible ways forward. --Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Real freedom is the freedom to reach your goal, not to get lost at every turn. In this powerful book, Cass Sunstein shows when policy can help us navigate to where we want to go, where policy might overstep by choosing the end point for us, and how to tell the two apart. A delightful masterpiece. --Esther Duflo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology