How to Make Hard Choices

Ruth Chang explains that hard choices arise when alternatives are comparable but on a par—equally good yet qualitatively different with respect to what matters—rather than due to ignorance or incommensurability.

In such cases, we exercise our normative power to commit ourselves to one option, creating reasons that shape who we become and authoring our own lives.

Avoiding hard choices leads to drifting, while embracing them fosters agency and self-determination.