Research Article

What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions

Volume: 3 Number: 2 December 30, 2025
TR EN

What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions

Abstract

In the philosophy of action, the concept of “decision” is relatively understudied compared to “intention,” “action,” and “will,” despite being just as philosophically problematic. This paper provides a conceptual analysis of “decision,” arguing that only conscious decisions with a world-to-mind direction of fit qualify as genuine decisions. The objects of decisions, as this paper defends, are ideas, not actions. More precisely, the function of a decision is to narrow down a set of epistemically possible ideas leading to the action. Introducing a two-dimensional classification—contrasting cognitive processes with a world-to-mind and mind-to-world direction of fit, and conscious with unconscious cognitive processes—the paper examines various decision-like cognitive processes. It argues that unconscious cognitive processes and cognitive processes with a mind-to-world direction of fit lack essential features of decision-making, such as a direct causal connection with affective dispositions and control by the subject. This analysis defends a restrictive view of “decision” and argues that many decision-like processes that are commonly referred to as “decisions” do not have any philosophically or scientifically significant commonalities with conscious decisions with a world-to-mind direction of fit.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

This research was supported by the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program

Ethical Statement

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References

  1. Anscombe, G. E. M. (2000). Intention. Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1957)
  2. Bratman, M. (1987). Intention, plans, and practical reason. Harvard University Press.
  3. Dawkins, R. (2016). The gene machine. In The selfish gene: 40th anniversary edition (pp. 59-85). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747505.001.0001
  4. Di Nucci, E. (2008). Mind out of action: The intentionality of automatic actions. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.
  5. Dreyfus, H. L. (2000). Responses. In M. Wrathall & J. Malpas (Eds.), Heidegger, coping, and cognitive science: Essays in honor of Hubert L. Dreyfus, volume 2 (pp. 313-349). The MIT Press.
  6. Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (2000). Mind over machine. The Free Press.
  7. Dreyfus, S. E. (2004). The five-stage model of adult skill acquisition. Bulletin of Science Technology & Society 24(3): 177-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0270467604264992
  8. Dreyfus, S. E., & Dreyfus, H. L. (1980). A five-stage model of the mental activities involved in directed skill acquisition. (Report No. ORC-80-2). University of California Berkeley Operations Research Center. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA084551.pdf

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Contemporary Philosophy , Decision Making

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

December 30, 2025

Submission Date

September 13, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 5, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 3 Number: 2

APA
Çağatay, H. (2025). What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions. ASA Dergisi, 3(2), 220-242. https://doi.org/10.71313/asa.1783300
AMA
1.Çağatay H. What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions. ASA Dergisi. 2025;3(2):220-242. doi:10.71313/asa.1783300
Chicago
Çağatay, Hasan. 2025. “What Is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions”. ASA Dergisi 3 (2): 220-42. https://doi.org/10.71313/asa.1783300.
EndNote
Çağatay H (December 1, 2025) What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions. ASA Dergisi 3 2 220–242.
IEEE
[1]H. Çağatay, “What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions”, ASA Dergisi, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 220–242, Dec. 2025, doi: 10.71313/asa.1783300.
ISNAD
Çağatay, Hasan. “What Is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions”. ASA Dergisi 3/2 (December 1, 2025): 220-242. https://doi.org/10.71313/asa.1783300.
JAMA
1.Çağatay H. What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions. ASA Dergisi. 2025;3:220–242.
MLA
Çağatay, Hasan. “What Is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions”. ASA Dergisi, vol. 3, no. 2, Dec. 2025, pp. 220-42, doi:10.71313/asa.1783300.
Vancouver
1.Hasan Çağatay. What is a Decision: Decisions and Pseudo-Decisions. ASA Dergisi. 2025 Dec. 1;3(2):220-42. doi:10.71313/asa.1783300