PPE Midterm Study
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384
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
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13
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Locke in the Carolinas
1.
Contrast Locke’s view on slavery in the
Treatises
with the text of the
Fundamental
Constitutions of the Carolinas
. Explain the inconsistency. What three possible
explanations might one offer for this inconsistency? [For this question, ignore the
explanation that appeals to forced labor by prisoners of war.]
Inconsistency: Locke argues for natural liberty and opposes slavery in the Treatises, but
defends the authority of masters over slaves in the Constitution
-
in the Treatises, Locke opposes slavery and states that it is vile and miserable,
contradicting the foundation of the country, arguing that no one should support it, as
the natural liberty of people is to be free, only having the law of nature for their rule
-
In the Fundamental Constitutions, where Locke was involved in writing as a
secretary, everyone is said to have absolute power and authority over their slaves.
While slaves may engage in some professions, they are primarily under the authority
of their masters.
-
1. Explanation may be that he was not the real author of the Constitution, he held a
secretariate position where he may not have been influential
-
2. Possibly, between the periods of writing, Locke changed his views on slavery
between the Constitution (1669) and the Treatises
-
3. Possibly, Locke wanted to attract foreign investment of Plantation owners into the
Carolinas, enshrining slavery was one option
2.
What type of forced labor did Locke approve of? How does this apply to the situation
in the Carolinas? Why is this not a feasible strategy to defend slavery in the
Carolinas?
Locke approved of the “Just war defense of slavery” and slaves as prisoners of war in a just war
-
If there is a “just war”, then the enslavement of prisoners of war (as remedy to
satisfy cost of war) is justified
o
A just war cannot have the enslavement as a goal; the slavers can only be
the combatants
Locke on Property
1.
What is the view on property that Locke is opposing in the
Treatise
?
Locke is opposing the “Divine right of Kings” justification of private property. This view contends
that political authority and private property derives from the heredity of God, specifically Adam.
Ownership rights were thus passed down from God to the father of the family, to their children,
to the fathers of their children and so forth, ultimately arriving at the monarchs of the feudal age.
2.
What are Locke’s implicit targets in “Of Property”? What does he aim to establish?
Locke’s targets are to justify private property ownership that is protected from the power of the
Kings, he justify inequality as a consequence of industrialization and capitalism, as well as
justify the American Colonies and the confiscation of the Native American lands.
3.
Private property, according to Locke, is in line with God’s purpose for humanity.
Explain.
In a state of nature and in accordance to God, humans were given common ownership of lands,
to make the best possible use of it. To make use of land and to improve it, there needs to be
some form of acquisition of property. As humans are entitled to the fruits of their own labor,
when they mix their labor with the common ownership, there may arise private ownership.
4.
Locke’s justification of the appropriation land from the commons as private property
is based on a particular view about the human body. Explain.
Locke contends that every human has property over their own body, which implies that the work
one performs is also their own. If the own labor is mixed with something – such as land–, there
arises property. The joining of own labor and a product of nature results in own property.
5.
What two conditions does Locke impose on the appropriation of land from the
commons without consent before the establishment of the state? Explain what each
condition means.
The conditions for the appropriation of land are 1. Not to Waste goods that could otherwise be
used by others and 2. Enough-and-as-good.
-
1. One may enjoy as much as one can make use of and benefit own life from,
before it spoils, as anything else would be beyond the common law of nature.
o
The condition can be overcome through trade, exchange of money!
-
2. In appropriating land, one needs to leave enough for others to use, and the use
of one appropriated land should not leave the land next to one in a worse condition
6.
Why does Locke believe that inequality enters the world with the introduction of
money? What is the role of the no-waste condition in this argument?
With the introduction of money, people can overcome the No Waste condition on appropriation
of land, leading to hoarding without waste, and thus an unequal distribution of resources.
The exchange of money as a representation of goods, goods do not go to waste but can be
secured and stored
e.g. more apples than one could ever consume could be exchanged for gold, allowing for the
hoarding of goods, as gold does not go bad.
Different degrees of industrialization allow for differences on possessions
7.
How does the appropriation of land in the commons proceed in the England of
Locke’s time?
Locke argues that at some point in time, when a large majority of land is appropriated, no one
can appropriate land anymore, without the consent of others. The remaining land is put in place
of a political authority
8.
How is Locke’s argument for private property relevant to the takings clause in the
Fifth Amendment?
Locke argued that people are entitled to the fruits of their own labor, inclusing from private
property. The government thus may not refuse people to that entitlement, without just
compensation, and only for the purpose of public use
9.
Why does Locke think that his view of property justifies the appropriation of land by
settlers in the Americas? How might one argue that it does not satisfy the
enough-and-as-good condition? How might Locke respond that it
does
satisfy the
no-waste as well as the enough-and-as-good condition?
Locke argues that because settlers made use of common lands in the Americas by cultivating
crops, they improved the efficiency(Productivity) as compared to the use of land by Native
Americans (hunter gatherer), thus using up proportionately less land, as compared to what they
would use with the Native Americans’ techniques.
OBJECTION: European settlers took away land that was necessary for Native Americans to
sustain their way of utilizing and sustaining their lifes. With less land available for hunter
gatherer technology, the enough and as good condition is not satisfied anymore
REPLY: The hunter gatherer technology is inferior, it is a wasteful practice and does not make
use of resources efficienty, thus violating the no waste condition
Settlers were willing to share their technology and compensate Native Americans for any losses
10. Locke opposes religious justifications for the alienation of Indian lands, yet he does
appeal to a passage in Genesis to justify the enclosure of land by white settlers on
Indian lands. How does this justification proceed?
Once the land is settled, Abraham moves to a place where “at least a great part of the land lay
in common; that
the inhabitants valued it not, nor claimed property in any more than they
made use of.
”
Locke uses Genisis as an argument to highlight that the Native Americans (inhabitants of the
common land) are not valuing the land in the same way Europeans do, they not do claim
property to it. The concept is alien to them and thus Europeans may claim property
1619 Project
1.
What can be said for and against the claim that the Revolutionary War was fought to
preserve slavery? What is the relevance of the Somerset v Stewart 1772 court case
and the Dunmore Proclamation? How might one argue against the claim that the
British were intent on abolishing slavery in the American colonies?
On the one hand, were the Revolutionary War about slavery, it would imply that the founding
fathers were trying to preserve it in the Constitution and, as some scholars argue, the British
must have exerted pressure on the American colonies to abolish slavery.
-
While The British did make slavery unlawful in 1772 (as a consequence of the
Somerset v Stewart 1772 case) and the Govenor of Virginia offered slaves freedom if
they joined the British Army (Dunmore Proclamation), the British actually only
abolished slavery in the Caribbean colonies 60 years after the Revolutionary war.
Similarly, there is disagreement between the founding fathers’ intent on preserving slavery.
2.
What can be said for and against the claim that the Founding Fathers were intent on
preserving slavery in the Union?
While some argue that the Fugitive Clave Clause (the return of slaves to their masters if they
escaped) and the Calling forth clause (military mobilization by congress to suppress slave
revolts) were designed to ensure slavery, critics argue that slavery was never mentioned in the
constitution and that there was no more slavery allowed in the new territories west of the Ohio
River.
a.
What is the relevance of the Fugitive Slave Clause and the Calling Forth
Clause in the Constitution?
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The fugitive slave clause ensures that the escaped slaves would need to be returned to their
masters, the calling forth clause was intended to suppress revolts of slaves, as this had led to
the slave revolution in Haiti in the late 18th century
b.
How was the issue of the international slave trade addressed in the
Constitution?
3.
What was the issue at hand in the Supreme Court Dred Scott case about? How does
Nikole Hannah Jones argue that the Dred Scott Supreme Court case was a means
to make the Constitution into a consistent document?
Hume
1.
What does he consider to be the function of the institution of justice? Explain.
Public utility. Institutions of justice must produce mutual benefit.
2.
How does Hume argue that we might mistakenly think that the equal division of
goods would be desirable? What three arguments does he offer against the equal
division of goods?
1. It is not stable, since differential degrees of entrepreneurship would do away with equality
over time
2. It would lead to widespread poverty (presumably because of the lack of incentives)
3. It would require constant interference and corrections by the state (cf. Nozick)
3.
Provide one argument in Lockean style and one argument in Humean style against
estate taxes. Provide one argument in Lockean style and one argument in Humean
style in favor of estate taxes.
Locke against: Not only is it right to let people hand their private property to their children … but
also bequests are often the fruits of labour that has already been taxed.
Hume against: a large inheritance-tax bill is destructive, because it can cause the
dismemberment of family firms and farms, and force the sale of ancestral homes.
Locke for: Heirs have rarely done anything to deserve the money that comes their way.
Hume for: Unlike income taxes, they do not destroy the incentive to work (…) Unlike
capital-gains taxes, heavier estate taxes do not seem to dissuade saving or investment. Unlike
sales taxes, they are progressive. To the extent that a higher inheritance tax can fund cuts to all
other taxes, the system can be more efficient.
4.
What are Hume’s subjective circumstances of justice? Under what two social
conditions do they not hold?
Riches and malice. Don’t hold under extreme abundance or perfect malice.
5.
What are Hume’s objective circumstances of justice? Under what two social
conditions do they not hold?
Scarcity and niceness. Don’t hold under extreme necessity or perfect niceness.
6.
Does greater abundance incline people to give more to charity? Explain the
u-shaped relationship between income and charitable giving.
U-shape: The very poor and very rich donate more than the moderately well-off (as a
percentage of their income). The poor might see how much need there is while the rich feel
obliged. The moderate might not think that they have enough to give and don’t see the need.
7.
How does Trump’s defense of waterboarding by the claim that ‘we have to fight fire
with fire’ fit in with Hume’s views of justice?
Hume might agree: “And were a civilized nation engaged with barbarians, who observed no
rules even of war, the former must also suspend their observance of them, where they no longer
serve to any purpose; and must render every action or recounter as bloody and pernicious as
possible to the first aggressors.”
However, may argue that torture is not useful and only hardens the terrorists’ resolve, so in that
case, justice would serve a public utility and should not be suspended.
8.
What is Hume’s view of political communities that practice the communal ownership
of goods?
He thinks that it never works, so the communities return to property rights.
9.
There are two interpretations of what Hume considers to be permissible under
extreme necessity. Explain.
Either, Hume believes that each is supposed to fend for themselves within the constraints of
morality;
Or, Hume believes that the state takes over, nullifies property rules, and tries to secure that
everyone is provided for.
10. How does the CDC argue that they had the authority to put in place an eviction
moratorium? How did SCOTUS respond?
1944 Public Health Service Act: “Other measures” to prevent the spread of disease. Quarantine
precedent: •“It would be strange to hold that the government may combat infection by prohibiting
the tenant from leaving his home [= ‘quarantine’], but not by prohibiting the landlord from
throwing him out.”
SCOTUS: “It would be one thing if Congress had specifically authorized the action that the CDC
has taken. But that has not happened.”“Instead, the CDC has imposed a nationwide moratorium
on evictions in reliance on a decades-old statute that authorizes it to implement measures like
fumigation and pest extermination. It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the CDC
the sweeping authority that it asserts.”
11. How might the eviction moratorium be harmful in the long run for lower SES renters?
[Note: => unintended consequences]
Anti-landlord environment leads to:
●
Independent landlords quit renting
○
Take property of the market
○
Move to Airbnb market
○
Sell property to investment companies who renovate and rent to higher income
groups
●
Exacerbates housing shortage for lower SES
○
Massive increase in rental price for low-income housing … at the time of
evictions
12. Explain the incentive problem in the uptake of Federal Emergency Assistance due to
the eviction moratorium.
Tenants enjoyed eviction protection so they had no need/want to take rental assistance.
Smith
1.
What does Smith aim to show with his pin-making work stead example?
If we divide up the labor that is required for, say, the production of pins, we can massively
increase the output of a fixed number of people.
2.
What three reasons does Smith provide as an explanation of why the division of
labor increases production?
•Greater skill level due to focus
•Repetition of single tasks which saves on transition time
•Automation
3.
What two reasons does Smith provide for the division of labor leading to greater
automation in production?
•Specialized knowledge of the production process supports invention
•Machine making itself, driven by subdisciplines of science (“philosophers, or men of
speculation”), becomes a specialized activity
4.
How will the division of labor affect lower SES groups, according to Smith?
a level of wealth that massively benefits even the lowest socio-economic group, whose
members are better off than the highest- ranking people in less developed societies
5.
What human propensity, for Smith, makes the division of labor possible?
The propensity to barter, so each individual does not have to make everything he needs to
survive, he can make one thing and barter for the rest
6.
What, according to Smith, is the role of benevolence and self-interest in the provision
of goods in society?
•The need for mutual assistance is pervasive;
•Benevolence alone cannot provide for it
•It is more reliable to procure services from self-interested agents with a propensity to barter
7.
What is the link between population density, transportation links, and innovation in
industry in Smith?
•A larger market permits for greater division of labor …
•Because only in large market is there a demand for specialized services, say, of a smith who
only makes nails, a porter etc.
•The size of the market is dependent on density of population and on possibilities for
transporting goods
8.
Smith provides a geographical explanation of differential levels of development in the
world. Explain.
Some geographies allow for better transportation, e.g. waterways. Better transportation leads to
a larger market and the benefits mentioned above.
9.
What geographical explanation do Gallup, Sachs and Mellinger 1998 provide of
differential levels of development in the world at large ?
Distance from equator
●
Incapacitating tropical diseases
●
Largely landlocked, high transportation cost
●
Poor agricultural climate
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Ricardo
1.
Review the questions in slides 18-20 in the ppt (following CORE
The Economy =>
Section 18.5 => Question 18.6 and 18.7). Make sure that you understand the
reasoning and that you can explain your answers. The midterm may contain a similar
exercise.
2.
Explain how the gains of trade are different for Ricardo and Smith? (Hint: Explain the
core idea of specialization based on comparative advantage versus economies of
scales that become feasible through the division of labor in integrated markets.)
3.
What are economies of agglomeration?
4.
How might there be winners and losers when we institute trade based on
comparative advantage?
5.
How might it be possible that all parties win in absolute terms when we institute trade
based on comparative advantage?
6.
If there are losers from trade, what can the state do to address this situation?
Tariffs and Automation
1.
Give four possible explanations of the trade imbalance between China and the US.
(We addressed nine possible explanations in class.)
2.
Give three reasons for imposing tariffs.
3.
Explain why tariffs might be beneficial for the local economy.
4.
Provide three reasons why tariffs may hurt the local economy.
5.
How might tariffs positively and negatively affect national security?
6.
Following the Cowen-Tabarrok debate, provide two reasons for thinking that the
current wave of automation is detrimental to society; and provide two reasons for
thinking that the current wave of automation is beneficial for society.
7.
Explain the displacement and the productivity effects of automation on employment.
8.
Following Acemoglu and Restrepo, what is the effect of the exposure to robots in
commuting zones (i) for men versus women; (ii) on unemployment versus wages;
and (iii) for different levels of education?
Marx
1.
What did Smith overlook when he failed to predict the pauperization of the workers
that capitalism would bring about?
2.
Why did Smith think that the invisible hand would lead to a roughly equal distribution
in society?
3.
According to Marx, the workers are alienated from their labor under Capitalist
production. Discuss two aspects of how the workers are alienated
from the product
of their labor
. Discuss two aspects of how the workers are alienated
from the
productive activity
.
4.
Why does Capitalism rely on an “Industrial Reserve Army of the Unemployed” for its
proper functioning?
5.
How does Marx’s theory of Historical Materialism view the relationship between
technology, economics, politics, and the law?
6.
Why does Marx believe that (i) the relative size of the proletariat will increase and (ii)
the proletariat will become increasingly more impoverished?
7.
Marx believed that the Communist Revolution would come about as a necessary
consequence of certain social forces within Capitalism. Explain.
8.
What is reflexivity in the social sciences, and how might this explain why Marx’s
prediction failed?
9.
What two interpretations might one give of Marx’s “hunter, fisherman, herdsman or
critic” passage in the
German Ideology
?
10. In the
Critique of the Gotha Program
, Marx writes, “From each according to ability, to
each according to need!” Explain what he meant by the ‘from each…’ and the ‘to
each…’ part.
11.
What types of functions does Marx envision for the state in the Communist society in
The Communist Manifesto
? (See slide 37. There is no need to list the particular
policies – just the four categories will do.)
Poverty and Inequality
1.
How is the Federal Poverty Level calculated? How is the relative poverty level
calculated? Which one is greater? Why?
2.
What happened to poverty rates over the last half-century for (i) Blacks, (ii)
Hispanics, and (iii) Whites? What happened to poverty rates over the last
half-century for (i) the elderly, (ii) the working-age population, and (iii) children?
3.
What are the five dimensions that enter into multidimensional poverty assessment?
4.
How do Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics compare in multidimensional poverty
assessment?
5.
Explain how the Gini coefficient is calculated. Draw a Lorenz curve and indicate what
is on the X-axis and the Y-axis of your graph. Illustrate by drawing a fictional Lorenz
curve for, say, the United Arab Emirates (high inequality) versus Denmark (low
inequality).
6.
Lay out three factors that might explain the rising income inequality in the US over
the last 40 years.
7.
Why is it somewhat deceptive to compare the Gini coefficient of the US with, say, the
Gini coefficient of Luxembourg?
8.
Suppose that two countries have the same GDP and the same pre-taxes&transfers
Gini-coefficient. Why might lower SES groups be better off in one country than in the
other?
Mill
1.
Mill’s example of the corn dealers draws a line between actions covered by freedom
of speech and actions that are not covered. Explain.
2.
Chaplinsky v New Hampshire 1942
states that “‘fighting’ words” are not protected by
the First Amendment. What two conditions make an expressive act into fighting
words?
3.
Present three Supreme Court cases in which the action deemed offensive was
protected by the First Amendment and one case in which the action was not
protected by the First Amendment. Shortly explain the issue in each case.
4.
Present one epistemic, one political, and one argument based on moral character
that Mill offers in defense of freedom of expression.
5.
What is Mill’s Harm Principle, and how does it relate to paternalism?
6.
What, according to Mill, may one permissibly do to stop people from doing harm to
self?
7.
What two arguments does Mill offer to defend his position that government should
respect the freedom to choose a way of living within the constraints of the Harm
Principle?
8.
What six types of interventions can government impose to protect public health.
Rank these interventions from most to least intrusive.
9.
What is Mill’s view of the taxation of stimulants? Explain the reasoning.
Nudge
1.
What four features characterize a nudge?
-
1. Change in choice architecture
-
2. No restriction on range of choices
-
3. Exploits behavioral mechanisms
-
4. Is in the interest of the person “nudged/Nudgee”
o
Many nudges are more in the societal interest
§ E.g. organ donations going up
§ E.g. fly in urinal
2.
Explain why (i) Save More Tomorrow, and (ii) Cafeteria are nudges?
In 1. Save more tomorrow, people are asked to put a certain portion of their future raise towards
a retirement plan. By asking people for their future commitment, the campaign exploits the
“endowment effect”, a bias where people are not willing to give up money they presently have. It
is in the interest of the nudge as they want to save for retirement. Their choice is still free as
they could say they do not want to contribute anything to the retirement plan.
In 2., the Cafeteria example, people are given presented with a different design(choice
architecture) of where fruit and doughnuts are placed. The choice architecture is changed,
people can still choose doughnuts, but because the fruits are more salient and placed in a easy
to reach location, the healthier option is chose.
3.
How might Mill respond to Nudges? What would he find attractive about them? What
might he find problematic?
-
PRO: alternatives remain open, liberty is not restricted; no coercion
-
CON: Mill would have liked freedom of autonomous choices, not unconscious
manipulation
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Utilitarianism
1.
What four components jointly make up utilitarianism? Explain each component.
What?
Consequentialism
Only consequences matter
Welfarism
Only Welfare, Well-Being, Happiness,
Pleasure & Pain in consequences matters
Sum Total
Sum total of welfare
Maximization
Choose actions that maximizes sum total of
welfare
2.
There are three types of utilitarianism following three different interpretations of utility.
Explain.
Hedonic Utilitarianism
-
Only thing that matters for quality of an outcome is intensity and duration the
pleasure (happiness, well being state) or pain derived from it
Preference Utilitarianism
-
Utility of an outcome comes from the degree to which prefernces (desires, wishes)
are satisfied in the outsome
Ideal Utilitarianism
-
Utility comes from objective value that the outcome has for the people involved
o
What will actually benefit people’s life (e.g. health)
3.
What does Mill respond to the objection that utilitarianism is a ‘philosophy of the
swine’? How does he defend utilitarianism against this objection? Is this a plausible
defense?
Objection is based on elitism
4.
How does Nozick’s experience machine pose a challenge to hedonic utilitarianism?
The experience machine can generate experiences of pleasure or pain in memory, without
having ever experienced any. If the prospect of pleasure or pain were the only thing that
matters, we should enter it. Yet, most people will not want this, because they care about
experiences being real moral philosophy of calculating pain and pleasure only cannot be correct
(Preference Utilitarianism arises)
5.
Preference utilitarianism requires that we restrict the types of preferences that enter
into the calculus. Name three types of preferences that should be excluded from the
utilitarian calculus and explain why they should be excluded.
Preferences that are ill-informed, adaptive and anti social.
-
Ill-informed ones may be harmful to oneself, reducing utility (e.g. bad medicine)
-
Adaptive in the sense that the preferences are in situations of oppression;
preferences adapt to the circumstances
o
unconscious altering of our preferences in light of the options we have
available
-
anti social preferences could be racist and thus negatively influence/harm the utility
of others
6.
Why is ideal utilitarianism subject to the objection that it is paternalistic?
Even though people themselves may not want the option of ideal utilitarianism, they are forced.
It disregards their preferences
7.
Explain the difference between a utilitarianism that bases the rightness and
wrongness of actions on actual consequences rather than by its expected
consequences?
Under actual utility calculation, the intention of actions does not matter. Even though an action
may have been expected and intended to result in a good outcome, the action may still lead to a
bad/harmful outcome.
8.
Act utilitarianism runs into the problem of condoning certain actions that violate rights
or deeply held moral principles. Provide an example. How does rule utilitarian avoid
this kind of objection?
For example, under act utilitarianism, one may choose to sacrifice the life of an innocent for the
benefit of saving others. Imagine a person with many healthy organs that save and prolong the
lives of 10 others through a transplant of organs. Even though in calculation, the
transplantations may lead to more “years” saved, the act utilitarianism would result in a lost life,
without a moral reason for what that person has done wrong. Rule utilitarianism may avoid this
problem by prohibiting certain actions.
9.
Bernard Williams argues that a concern for one’s integrity would motivate a person to
resist doing the action recommended by the utilitarian calculus. Explain and illustrate
by means of an example.
10. It is said that utilitarianism is not sensitive to distributional concerns. Illustrate this by
means of Nagel’s example of family with a healthy and the disabled child moving to
an urban or a rural area. How does a prioritarian resolve the moral problem at hand?
-
Country: Sum-total of utility is greater
-
Town: We should give priority to the well-being of the worse off
(“Prioritarianism”)
11. How is Scanlon’s example of Jones and the World Cup transmission a critique of
utilitarianism? Give a real-life example that has a similar structure.
12. Utilitarianism faces the objection that it cannot account for supererogatory acts.
Explain.
13. What is the impartiality requirement of utilitarianism? What objection might one raise
to this requirement?
14. Provide an example of how the Doctrine of Double Effect distinguishes permissible
and impermissible actions in a way that violates the consequentialist aspect of
utilitarianism.
Game-Theory
1.
Provide a matrix in which the dominant strategy pair offers a solution that is socially
desirable and a matrix in which the dominant strategy pair offers a solution that is
suboptimal.
Dominant strategy where the solution is socially desirable
Contribute
Not contribute
Contribute to study guide
3,3
1,2
Not contribute
2,1
0,0
-
If both contribute to the study guide, more information is available, more unique
information is added that the other person might have missed.
-
If neither contributes, neither one will have had a guide to study and do bad on the
exam, but at least no one helped the other “free riding”
-
If only one contributes both have something to study, but one that has contributed
has done so with the other one free riding
Dominant strategy where the solution is suboptimal
Reva
Carlos
Ladybugs
Chemicals
Use ladybugs
2,2
0,3
Use chemicals
3,0
1,1
-
If chemicals are used, externalities arise (water pollution and killing of ladybugs on
the other field)
o
The person not using chemicals would not be protecting their plants
anymore and would also be negatively affected regarding water supply
o
Whatever the other person does, one is best off using chemicals, although
this reduces the quality of the environment for both and is the suboptimal
outcome, as there is an option in which both players could be better off,
without the other one being worse off
2.
In a Prisoners’ Dilemma, individual rationality does not lead to collective rationality.
Explain. (You need to explain the Prisoners’ Dilemma, the matrix and how the
solution to the game is suboptimal.)
In the Prisoner’s dilemma, two people that are alleged of a crime are questioned for evidence to
convict the other criminal. As there is not enough evidence for either one being convicted of a
major crime, only a minor one, they would each receive one year imprisonment as is. However,
if one person can provide evidence for the conviction of the other one, they are set free and the
other player is imprisoned for a longer term. If both provide evidence for the conviction of the
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other, they receive a longer imprisonment sentence than if they had not said anything, but a
shorter one than if only the other actor had talked. Considering only their individual situation, in
any case, the individual is better off providing information on the conviction of the other person
(either reducing the sentence to 0 year or by shortening it compared to if only the other player
talks)
Person 1
Person 2
Not talk
talk
Not talk
2,2
0,3
talk
3,0
1,1