Game Theory: Conflict and Cooperation

Philosopher Jeremy Bentham envisioned a society in which people strive for “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” All too often, however, striving for one's own good opposes that of others — leading to conflict rather than greatest happiness. Such conflicts are common and range from two children craving the same cake to nations negotiating thorny peace treaties. In this article I focus on conflicts and cooperation. To this end I describe a scientific school of thought, known as game theory, which offers a fruitful framework for classifying conflicts and for overcoming them by promoting cooperation. Keywords: game theory; conflict; cooperation; prisoner's dilemma; commons dilemma; public goods dilemma; social dilemma; tit-for-tat; time horizons; communication