Game Theory and Ethics
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Game theory studies interdependent choices and actions, covering both strategic decision making, in which a rational agent's choice is or ought to be affected by others' choices, and group dynamics, in which the distribution of strategies in a population evolves and shapes the outcomes of individual interaction. It is applied to ethics by treating norms as devices that alter payoff structures.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Rebuild the payoff structure: read a moral norm as a device that changes gains and losses so that cooperating no longer costs more. - Avert common disaster: in situations where individual rationality produces the worst collective outcome, look for a self-enforcing coordination solution. - Test normative stability: ask whether the norm is stable and justified, remembering that bad norms can also be stable.
Anchor fast decisions
When outcomes depend on several people's choices, individual rationality and collective optimality can come apart. Moral norms can be seen as devices that change the payoff structure of a game, converting a prisoner's dilemma into a coordination structure so that cooperation no longer costs more, improving outcomes without requiring everyone to become better people.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/game-ethics/verified
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