This illuminating and instructive survey demonstrates both the insights and the pitfalls that result from applying game theoretic models to the analysis of problems in political science. Using real-life examples, it shows how game theory can explain and elucidate complex political situations, from warfare to presidential vetoes. 1975 edition. 24 figures.

Game Theory and Politics

Science & Math

Brams, Steven J.

Mathematics

Free Pr

Paradoxes in Politics: An Introduction to the Nonobvious in Political Science

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Rational Politics: Decisions, Games, and Strategy

Academic Press

Game Theory and the Humanities: Bridging Two Worlds

How game theory can offer insights into literary, historical, and philosophical texts ranging from Macbeth to Supreme Court decisions.
Game theory models are ubiquitous in economics, common in political science, and increasingly used in psychology and sociology; in evolutionary biology, they offer compelling explanations for competition in nature. But game theory has been only sporadically applied to the humanities; indeed, we almost never associate mathematical calculations of strategic choice with the worlds of literature, history, and philosophy. And yet, as Steven Brams shows, game theory can illuminate the rational choices made by characters in texts ranging from the Bible to Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and can explicate strategic questions in law, history, and philosophy.
Much of Brams's analysis is based on the theory of moves (TOM), which is grounded in game theory, and which he develops gradually and applies systematically throughout. TOM illuminates the dynamics of player choices, including their misperceptions, deceptions, and uses of different kinds of power.
Brams examines such topics as the outcome and payoff matrix of Pascal's wager on the existence of God; the strategic games played by presidents and Supreme Court justices; and how information was slowly uncovered in the game played by Hamlet and Claudius. The reader gains not just new insights into the actions of certain literary and historical characters but also a larger strategic perspective on the choices that make us human.

Business & Money

Economics

Mit Pr

In this unusual book, first published by The MIT Press in 1980 and now updated with a new chapter, Steven Brams applies the mathematical theory of games to the Hebrew Bible. Brams's thesis is that God and the human biblical characters acted rationally—that is, given their preferences and their knowledge of other players' preferences, they made strategy choices that led to the best attainable outcomes.  Beginning with the Creation and focusing on those stories richest in conflict and intrigue, Brams uses elementary game-theoretic tools to elucidate the rational calculations of biblical players and to show precisely the manner in which they sought to achieve their goals. He relies almost exclusively on noncooperative theory, making use of both game tree and matrix forms of games. Brams uses his strategic analyses to build a detailed assessment of God's character and motivations, including the reasons for His frequently wrathful behavior. Brams's insights have application to biblical studies, the philosophy of religion, political theory, and game theory and methodology.  In the new chapter, Brams surveys the literature of the past twenty years on political-strategic interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. He also extends the game-theoretic analysis, using the theory of moves, to study a counterfactual situation—what if Abraham had refused God's command to sacrifice Isaac?—and to examine the rationality of believing in a superior being.

Biblical games: A strategic analysis of stories in the Old Testament

Religion & Spirituality

MIT Press]

In this unusual book, first published by The MIT Press in 1980 and now updated with a new chapter, Steven Brams applies the mathematical theory of games to the Hebrew Bible. Brams's thesis is that God and the human biblical characters acted rationally—that is, given their preferences and their knowledge of other players' preferences, they made strategy choices that led to the best attainable outcomes. Beginning with the Creation and focusing on those stories richest in conflict and intrigue, Brams uses elementary game-theoretic tools to elucidate the rational calculations of biblical players and to show precisely the manner in which they sought to achieve their goals. He relies almost exclusively on noncooperative theory, making use of both game tree and matrix forms of games. Brams uses his strategic analyses to build a detailed assessment of God's character and motivations, including the reasons for His frequently wrathful behavior. Brams's insights have application to biblical studies, the philosophy of religion, political theory, and game theory and methodology. In the new chapter, Brams surveys the literature of the past twenty years on political-strategic interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. He also extends the game-theoretic analysis, using the theory of moves, to study a counterfactual situation—what if Abraham had refused God's command to sacrifice Isaac?—and to examine the rationality of believing in a superior being.

Biblical Games: Game Theory and the Hebrew Bible

Christian Books & Bibles

Divine Games: Game Theory and the Undecidability of a Superior Being

A game-theoretical analysis of interactions between a human being and an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being highlights the inherent unknowability of the latter's superiority.
In Divine Games, Steven Brams analyzes games that a human being might play with an omnipotent and omniscient godlike being. Drawing on game theory and his own theory of moves, Brams combines the analysis of thorny theological questions, suggested by Pascal's wager (which considers the rewards and penalties associated with belief or nonbelief in God) and Newcomb's problem (in which a godlike being has near omniscience) with the analysis of several stories from the Hebrew Bible. Almost all of these stories involve conflict between God or a surrogate and a human player; their representation as games raises fundamental questions about God's superiority.
In some games God appears vulnerable (after Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit in defiance of His command), in other games his actions seem morally dubious (when He subjects Abraham and Job to extreme tests of their faith), and in still other games He has a propensity to hold grudges (in preventing Moses from entering the Promised Land and in undermining the kingship of Saul). If the behavior of a superior being is indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human being, his existence would appear undecidable, or inherently unknowable. Consequently, Brams argues that keeping an open mind about the existence of a superior being is an appropriate theological stance.

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

The MIT Press

Biblical Games represents a radical departure from traditional biblical scholarship; however, it is in no way flippant or sacrilegious. It brings a completely new approach to the study of the Scriptures—the mathematical theory of games—which Brams uses to explore the central question of theology, man's relationship to God. The thesis of Biblical Games is that both God and human biblical characters acted rationally in a series of games played in the Old Testament. This thesis is supported by an analysis of over twenty stories of conflict and intrigue, starting with the creation, in which it is demonstrated that biblical players (God included) consistently acted to further their own ends. Elementary tools from the theory of games, including payoff matrices and games trees that are fully explained in the text, are used to elucidate the rational calculations of biblical players and show precisely the manner in which they sought to achieve their most preferred outcomes. On the basis of the story-by-story strategic analysis, a detailed assessment of God's character and motivations is offered at the end, with reasons given for His frequently wrathful behavior. Biblical Games will appeal to a wide audience—readers with a serious interest in the philosophy of religion, biblical studies, political theory, game theory and methodology, as well as those who are simply intrigued by a fascinating application of logical reasoning to a work long considered inaccessible to scientific analysis. Contents: The Creation and Its Aftermath (Adam, Eve, and the serpent); The Meaning of Faith (Abraham and Isaac, Jephthah and his daughter); Family Conflict (Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers); Protracted Conflict (Moses, the Israelites, and God); Just Agreements and Wise Arbitration (Rahab and the spies, Joshua's deception by the Gibeonites, Solomon and the disputed baby); Royal Conflict (Saul and David; Esther, Mordecai, and Haman); Conflict Between the Sexes (Nabal, Abigail, and David; Samson and Delilah; Vashti and Ahaseurus); Theory, Evidence, and Findings (including "Concluding Remarks on God"). Index.

Biblical Games

Philosophy

BACK IN PRINT with a new preface and a new chapter.

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