PHI101 M2A2 – The Prisoner’s Dilemama: What is the My Best
Interest ?
We learned in earlier discussions that according to
Aristotle and Bentham, one’s happiness was the highest goal. Enter social
contract. How does one ensure one’s self-interest when one has to compromise
with another to achieve the goal? David Gauthier proposes that it is possible,
offering the Prisoner’s Dilemma as an example.
According to the story of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, two people
have been brought in for questioning, conducted separately, about a crime they
are suspected to have committed. The police have solid evidence of a lesser
crime that they committed, but need confessions in order to convict them on
more serious charges. Each prisoner is told that if she cooperates with the
police by informing on the other prisoner, then she will be rewarded by
receiving a relatively light sentence of one year in prison, whereas her cohort
will go to prison for ten years. If they both remain silent, then there will be
no such rewards, and they can each expect to receive moderate sentences of two
years. And if they both cooperate with police by informing on each other, then
the police will have enough to send each to prison for five years. The dilemma
then is this: in order to serve her own interests as well as possible, each
prisoner reasons that no matter what the other does she is better off
cooperating with the police by confessing. Each reasons: “If she confesses,
then I should confess, thereby being sentenced to five years instead of ten.
And if she does not confess, then I should confess, thereby being sentenced to
one year instead of two. So, no matter what she does, I should confess.” The
problem is that when each reasons this way, they each confess, and each goes to
prison for five years. However, had they each remained silent, thereby
cooperating with each other rather than with the police, they would have spent
only two years in prison.
(Note: For additional information, you can read more about
Gauthier by copying the URL into your internet browser.
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/#SH2a). It will take you to the Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The link takes you to the beginning of a great
article on social contract. The outline at the beginning shows that the
discussion on Gauthier and the Prisoner’s Dilemma is in the middle of the
article, in the “More Recent Theories” section, following Rawls. Gauthier
comments on the idea that the Prisoner’s Dilemma shows that it is in an
individual’s best interest to cooperate, even when it means that they will give
up some individual freedom.)
Assignment Requirements:
Write a 3-page (650-750 word) paper addressing the following
questions:
Consider the concepts of utilitarianism, egoism, and social
contract. What moral theory—utilitarianism, egoism, or social contract—is
consistent with cooperating with the other prisoner and rejecting self-interest
as the best option? What is the recommended course of action for each prisoner
in regard to the other two theories?
From your experience, is cooperation always in your best
interest? Share an example. Alternatively, to state it negatively, why do
selfish, self-centered people seem to prosper if cooperation is always in their
best interest?
Post the 3-page (650-750 words) paper to the M2: Assignment
2
