A Game Theoretic Account of Social Justice

Horace W. Brock

A chapter in Game Theory, Social Choice and Ethics, 1979, pp 239-265 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The role in ethics of game theory proper (as opposed to decision theory) is discussed via an elucidation of a new theory of justice. The new theory integrates into a coherent whole two fundamental distributive norms: To Each According to his Needs; and to Each According to his Contribution. The theory incorporates a new account of ethics in terms of impartial decision — an account which dispenses with the need for a Veil of Ignorance construct. Also, the new theory does not require the use of interpersonal comparisons of utility at an operational level, even though such comparisons arise at a conceptual level. The reason for this lies in its relationship to game theoretical structures which do not entail interpersonal comparisons. Finally, the theory makes possible a new interpretation of two cooperative game solutions: The Nash solution, and the Generalized Shapley Value.

Keywords: Social Justice; Decision Problem; Social Choice; Distributive Justice; Ethical Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1979
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-94-009-9532-1_6

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DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-9532-1_6

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