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Decision

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Decision refers to the act of choosing between possibilities. It highlights responsibility and the consequences of choice.

Detailed Definition
Philosophically, decision is central to existentialism, where choice defines identity and meaning. In poetry, it appears in moments of turning, commitment, or hesitation. Poets explore decision through narrative tension or reflective voice, emphasising the weight of choice and its impact on the self.
Example
Example in poetry:
Kierkegaard's analysis of the decision (the leap of faith) as a moment that transcends rational deliberation — the authentic choice that cannot be grounded in prior reasons — has influenced poets who dramatize moments of commitment that exceed the reach of argument; In Dante's "Commedia," the initial decision to undertake the journey is a moment of spiritual decision that cannot be fully rationalized — it represents the will's capacity to choose a path whose end it cannot see; A poet writing about ethical dilemmas might frame the moment of choice as a Kierkegaardian decision — the situation where reasons run out and one must act on something beyond calculation, whether faith, love, or conviction; Carl Schmitt's political philosophy of the decision — "sovereign is he who decides on the exception" — has influenced poets who write about the moment when ordinary rules are suspended and bare power is exercised, as in poems about states of emergency and martial law; Sartre's existentialist account of decision and radical freedom — we are condemned to choose, and every choice constitutes our being — runs through much existentialist poetry that dramatizes the individual's inescapable responsibility for the self they make through their choices; The structure of the lyric poem itself enacts a philosophical decision — the choice of this image rather than that one, this word rather than that one, is irreversible in the made poem, and the poem is constituted by the accumulated decisions of its making
Additional Notes
The philosophy of decision reaches its most significant formulations in existentialism and political philosophy. Kierkegaard's "Either/Or" presents decision as the fundamental existential act — the choice between the aesthetic and the ethical stages of existence cannot be rationally adjudicated but requires a leap. Schmitt's political concept of sovereignty ("Sovereign is he who decides on the exception") makes decision the foundational political act — the capacity to suspend the normal legal order in a state of emergency is the highest form of political authority. Derrida's analysis of the decision in "The Other Heading" and "The Gift of Death" argues that a genuine decision must pass through the undecidable — if the right answer is obvious, there is no real decision. Sartre's radical freedom makes every act a decision for which the agent is fully responsible. For poets, decision is both a theme (poems about choices made and unmade) and a formal principle (every word choice is a decision). Related terms: the leap, existential choice, Schmitt's exception, the undecidable, responsibility, freedom.
Also Known As
resolute choice existential act pivotal judgment
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