Gauthier and the Prisoner’s Dilemma

Bibliographic Data

ID9686396
AuthorsSteven Kuhn, Steven T Kuhn (Georgetown University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume55
Issue4
Pages659-676
Publication date2016-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDialogue (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-2173 • E-ISSN: 1759-0949
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0012217316000603
OpenAlexW2565504308
LanguageEN
References cited14

The Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) plays a central, but shifting, role in David Gauthier’s moral theorizing. In “Morality and Advantage,” it provides a model, demonstrating how morality can have seemingly contradictory properties. In Morals by Agreement , it poses a special problem for the view that moral behaviour is individually rational. Authorities on game theory have subsequently disputed the idea that the PD is an appropriate tool for thinking about moral theory. In the first part of this paper, I examine the roles of the PD in Gauthier’s writings. In the second part, I outline a project, with both descriptive and normative components, that develops the insights of “Morality and Advantage” while preserving it from the game theorists’ attack

Dilemma · Economics · Epistemology · Game theory · Law and economics · Mathematical economics · Moral dilemma · Morality · Normative · Positive economics · Prisoner's dilemma · Sociology · Superrationality · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Social Psychology · War, Ethics, and Justification

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