Indeterminacy and SocietyIn simple action theory, when people choose between courses of action, they know what the outcome will be. When an individual is making a choice "against nature," such as switching on a light, that assumption may hold true. But in strategic interaction outcomes, indeterminacy is pervasive and often intractable. Whether one is choosing for oneself or making a choice about a policy matter, it is usually possible only to make a guess about the outcome, one based on anticipating what other actors will do. In this book Russell Hardin asserts, in his characteristically clear and uncompromising prose, "Indeterminacy in contexts of strategic interaction . . . Is an issue that is constantly swept under the rug because it is often disruptive to pristine social theory. But the theory is fake: the indeterminacy is real." |
Contents
Chapter 1 Indeterminacy | 1 |
Chapter 2 Beyond Basic Rationality | 16 |
Chapter 3 Mutual Advantage | 41 |
Chapter 4 The Greatest Sum | 55 |
Chapter 5 Marginal Determinacy | 70 |
Chapter 6 Rules for Determinacy | 81 |
Chapter 7 Indeterminate Justice | 102 |
Chapter 8 Mechanical Determinacy | 121 |
DETERMINACY IN ITERATED PRISONERS DILEMMA | 139 |
INDIVIDUALLY CARDINAL UTILITY | 141 |
NOTES | 143 |
151 | |
159 | |