Abstract
The theory of games treats decision problems where the results of an agent’s action depend on the actions of others. It advances standards of rationality for an agent’s choice of an action, or strategy. The most widely accepted standard enjoins an agent to do his part in a Nash equilibrium, i.e., a set of strategies, one for each agent, such that each agent’s strategy is a best reply to the others. Nash equilibrium is intuitively appealing, but there are difficulties in specifying appropriate conditions for it and in showing that under those conditions the Nash strategies that constitute it are rational choices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aumann, Robert (1987). “Correlated Equilibrium as an Expression of Bayesian Rationality.” Econometrica, 55, 1–18.
Bernheim, B. Douglas (1984). “Rationalizable Strategic Behavior.” Econometrica, 52, 1007–1028.
Bemheim, B. Douglas (1986). “Axiomatic Characterizations of Rational Choice in Strategic Environments.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 88, 473–488.
Binmore, Ken (1990). Essays on the Foundations of Game Theory. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Brandenburger, Adam and Dekel, Eddie (1989). “The Role of Common Knowledge Assumptions in Game Theory.” In Frank Hahn, ed., The Economics of Missing Markets, Information, and Games, pp. 46–61. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eells, Ellery and Harper, William (1991). “Ratifiability, Game Theory, and the Principle of Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives.” Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 69, 1–19.
Harper, William (1986). “Mixed Strategies and Ratifiability in Causal Decision Theory.” Erkenntnis, 24, 25–36.
Harper, William (1988). “Causal Decision Theory and Game Theory.” In William Harper and Brian Skyrms, eds., Causation in Decision, Belief Change, and Statistics, Vol. II, pp. 25–48. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Harper, William (1991). “Ratifiability and Refinements.” In Michael Bacharach and Susan Hurley, eds., Foundations of Decision Theory, pp. 263–293. Oxford: Blackwell.
Harsanyi, John and Selten, Reinhard (1988). A General Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jeffrey, Richard (1983). The Logic of Decision, 2nd Edition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Pearce, David (1984). “Rationalizable Strategic Behavior and the Problem of Perfection.” Econometrica, 52, 1029–1050.
Rabinowicz, Wlodzimierz (1989). “Stable and Retrievable Options,” Philosophy of Science, 56, 624–641.
Shin, Hyun Song (1991). “Two Notions of Ratifiability and Equilibrium in Games.” In Foundations of Decision Theory, pp. 242–262.
Sobel, J. Howard (1990). “Maximization, Stability of Decision, and Actions in Accordance with Reason.” Philosophy of Science, 57, 60–77.
Skyrms, Brian (1990a). The Dynamics of Rational Deliberation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Skyrms, Brian (1990b). “Ratifiability and the Logic of Decision.” Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Vol. XV, pp. 44–56.
Weirich, Paul (1988). “Hierarchical Maximization of Two Kinds of Expected Utility.” Philosophy of Science, 55, 560–582.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weirich, P. (1994). The Hypothesis of Nash Equilibrium and Its Bayesian Justification. In: Prawitz, D., Westerståhl, D. (eds) Logic and Philosophy of Science in Uppsala. Synthese Library, vol 236. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8311-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8311-4_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4365-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8311-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive