The Stag Hunt and the Evolution of Social Structure

This book by Brian Skyrms is a study of ideas of cooperation and collective action.

Brian Skyrms (Author)

9780521826518, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 December 2003

166 pages
22.3 x 14.6 x 1.8 cm, 0.313 kg

'I can unreservedly recommend this delightful book. It is an absolute pleasure to read and a more stimulating introductory text on evolutionary thinking of social institutions is hard to image … Brain Skyrms has done us a great service, and I am looking forward to his next book.' Studia Logica

Brian Skyrms, author of the successful Evolution of the Social Contract (which won the prestigious Lakatos Award) has written a sequel. The book is a study of ideas of cooperation and collective action. The point of departure is a prototypical story found in Rousseau's A Discourse on Inequality. Rousseau contrasts the pay-off of hunting hare where the risk of non-cooperation is small but the reward is equally small, against the pay-off of hunting the stag where maximum cooperation is required but where the reward is so 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's characteristic clarity and verve, this intriguing book will be eagerly sought out by students and professionals in philosophy, political science, economics, sociology and evolutionary biology.

1. The stag hunt
Part I. Location: 2. Bargaining with neighbors
3. Stag hunt with neighbors
Part II. Signals: 4. Evolution of inference
5. Cheap talk
Part III. Association: 6. Choosing partners
7. Coevolution of structure and strategy.

Subject Areas: Educational: Citizenship & social education [YQN], Social theory [JHBA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]