The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure
The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure by Brian Skyrms
English | December 15, 2003 | ISBN: 0521826519, 0521533929 | PDF | 166 pages | 1 MB
English | December 15, 2003 | ISBN: 0521826519, 0521533929 | PDF | 166 pages | 1 MB
Brian Skyrms' study of ideas of cooperation and collective action explores the implications of a prototypical story found in Rousseau's A Discourse on Inequality. It is therein that Rousseau contrasts the pay-off of hunting hare (where the risk of non-cooperation is small and the reward equally small) against the pay-off of hunting the stag (where maximum cooperation is required but the reward is much greater.) Thus, rational agents are pulled in one direction by considerations of risk and in another by considerations of mutual benefit. Written with Skyrms' characteristic clarity and verve, The Stage Hunt will be eagerly sought by readers who enjoyed his earlier work Evolution of the Social Contract.