Most contemporary social science is grounded in a model that treats humans as rational actors. This basically rational choice (decision theory) model can be understood as both a normative guide for human behavior and as a description of human behavior. I will argue that no single model can adequately perform both tasks and that the rational choice model is fundamentally normative. As a consequence, social scientists need to adapt - or perhaps even replace - the model at the foundation of their disciplines. I will offer some suggestions for how social scientists can amend rational choice models in order to make them more descriptively adequate.The course will be conducted in a lecture-discussion format. I hope to prompt spirited discussions. There will be readings on most nights, although I’ll try to keep that to a minimum.