Philosophy 435/535 

Games & Decisions (Spring 2006)

MWF 1:00-1:50 (Comm 311)

David Schmidtz

Office: Social Sciences 226B

Office hours: MW 1:50-3:20

621-7099 schmidtz@u.arizona.edu

Conduct of the Course

I will lecture on Monday and Wednesday. I will reserve Friday for discussion. There will be a reading assignment for every lecture. I will lecture by what is known in law schools as the Socratic Method. That is, I will call upon students at random to answer questions about the reading assignment.

Texts

Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation.

Richmond Campbell & Lanning Sowden, Paradoxes of Rationality & Cooperation.

David Schmidtz, Rational Choice and Moral Agency.

Roger Fisher & William Ury, Getting to Yes.

Brian Skyrms, The Stag Hunt

 


last update February 18, 2006

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tside the classroom. Every sentence is interesting and clear.

Sample #2 I deducted one point from this because the essay made its point, came to a close, then went on for a couple of sentences that did not add much. But still, it is a great essay overall. It is not as daring as Sample #1, but still it is clear, thoughtful, and every sentence (until the last couple, perhaps) serves a purpose.

Sample #3 Thoughtful, insightful, and plain-spoken.

Sample #4 This is considerably beyond the call of duty, but still an indication of what is possible.

Sample #5 Also beyond the call of duty. A little long, but the prose is inspired.

Sample #6 Quite a few of the papers used relationship issues as an example of the rational choice issues that we've been discussing. This was one of the best.

Sample #7 This is a pass/fail paper. It gets right to the point in a memorable way.

Sample #8 This one is a critique of my stuff on maieutic ends. This is seriously good philosophy, and I don't just mean "for a student."

Additional Assignments for Graduate Students

I will assign graduate students responsibility for guiding Friday discussion. Part of the purpose is to give grad students an opportunity to learn the material by actively repackaging it for class presentation. Another part of the purpose is to make sure grad students do not accidentally monopolize the discussion—by giving grad students responsibility for conducting discussion for the benefit of undergraduates. I will attend the Friday discussions, but normally I will not participate.


last update February 18, 2006

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ng this strategy gives Roth a bad reputation. Early on in the film,)Tj