>
> I haven't read this one, but I'm looking forward to doing so, because I'm
> halfway through his textbook on political economy, and he's an absurdly
> lively writer. His are the only textbooks where I find myself saying "Could
> you put that in a less colorful and amusing manner? You're offending my
> sense of propriety."
Me too, it looks great. (Michael and I have been running a two-person reading group on the PE textbook, maybe the game theory one should be next on our list.) Here's his and Hargreaves-Heap's take on game theory in a nutshell, from the intro to the second edition:
"Our motivation for writing this book originally was an interesting contradiction. On the one hand, we doubted that the claim in Section 1.1.2 [that game theory could be the unifying principle of all social science] was warranted. This explains the book’s subtitle. On the other hand, however, we enjoyed game theory and had spent many hours pondering its various twists and turns. Indeed it had helped us on many issues. However, we believed that this is predominantly how game theory makes a contribution: It is useful mainly because it helps clarify some fundamental issues and debates in social science, for instance those within and around the political theory of liberal individualism. In this sense, we believed the contribution of game theory to be largely paedagogical. Such contributions are not to be sneezed at.
"We also felt that game theory’s further substantial contribution was a negative one. The contribution comes through demonstrating the limits of a particular form of individualism in social science: one based exclusively on the model of persons as preference-satisfiers. This model is often regarded as the direct heir of David Hume’s (the 18th century philosopher) conceptualisation of human reasoning and motivation. It is principally associated with what is known today as Rational Choice Theory, or with the (neoclassical) Economic Approach to social life (see Downs, 1957, and Becker, 1976). Our first edition’s main conclusion (which was developed through the book) was that game theory exposes the limits of these models of human agency. In other words, game theory does not actually deliver Jon Elster’s ‘solid microfoundations’ for all social science; and this tells us something about the inadequacy of its chosen microfoundations’.
"[...] Despite the large number of textbooks available at the time, none of them located game theory in the wider debates within social science. We thought it important to produce an introductory book which does not treat game theory as a series of solved problems to be learnt by the reader. Indeed, we felt that the most fruitful way of conveying game theory was by presenting its concepts and techniques critically. Engineers can afford to impart their techniques assertively and demand that the uninitiated go through the motions until they acquire the requisite knowledge. Game theorists doing the same devalue their wares. Our first edition was, thus, motivated by the conviction that presentations of game theory which simply plunder the social sciences for illustrations (without however locating the theory properly within the greater debates of social science) are unfortunate for two reasons:
"First, they were liable to encourage further the insouciance among economists with respect to what is happening elsewhere in the social sciences. This is a pity because mainstream economics is actually founded on philosophically controversial premises and game theory is potentially in rather a good position to reveal some of these foundational difficulties. In other words, what appear as ‘puzzles’ or ‘tricky issues’ to many game theorists are actually echoes of fundamental philosophical dispute and so it would be unfortunate to overlook this invitation to more philosophical reflection.
"Secondly, there was a danger that other social sciences will greet game theory as the latest manifestation of economic imperialism, to be championed only by those who prize technique most highly. Again this would be unfortunate because game theory really does speak to some of the fundamental disputes in social science and as such it should be an aid to all social scientists. Indeed, for those who are suspicious of economic imperialism within the social sciences, game theory is, somewhat ironically, a potential ally. Thus it would be a shame for those who feel embattled by the onward march of neoclassical economics if the potential services of an apostate within the very camp of economics itself were to be denied."
Mike