FYSP 079 - Agreeing to Disagree: The Mathematics and Philosophy of Cooperation

FC NSMA QFR WINT

4 credits
Cooperation for the common good sounds pleasant enough, but there is often a tension lurking just under the surface: selfishness might put more food on the table. Anthropologists, biologists, economists, philosophers, and psychologists have all investigated how and why people and animals cooperate, even when doing so doesn’t seem to be in their best interests. We will use tools from these fields, plus a mathematical tool called game theory, to explore cooperation. In general, we will try to find diverse ways of attacking the question “How do you agree when you disagree?”
This course is appropriate for new students.