Re: Ethics

From: Daniel Fabulich (daniel.fabulich@yale.edu)
Date: Wed Jul 15 1998 - 21:18:14 MDT


On 15 Jul 1998, Felix Ungman wrote:

> It's not egoism that is wrong. You can't blame anyone for being an
> egoist. It's the prisoner's dilemma that should be avoided. In real
> world situations you often have some control over the rules of the game.
> If you choose a system (economical, social, political, etc.) based on
> ill-formed game theories, you'll get what you ask for.

Er, no kidding. I'm well aware of what a good idea it is to minimize the
number of situations in which it is profitable in the long term to hurt
others. However, we can only minimize this effect; we can never eliminate
it entirely. (No utopia, remember?) In the meantime, we will still be
better off to the extent that people are utilitarians rather than egoists.



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