Publisher:
Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Game theory—the study of how people make choices while interacting with others—is one of the most popular technical approaches in social science today. But as Michael Chwe reveals in his insightful new book, Jane Austen explored game theory’s core...
more
Game theory—the study of how people make choices while interacting with others—is one of the most popular technical approaches in social science today. But as Michael Chwe reveals in his insightful new book, Jane Austen explored game theory’s core ideas in her six novels roughly two hundred years ago—over a century before its mathematical development during the Cold War. Jane Austen, Game Theorist shows how this beloved writer theorized choice and preferences, prized strategic thinking, and analyzed why superiors are often strategically clueless about inferiors. Exploring a diverse range of literature and folktales, this book illustrates the wide relevance of game theory and how, fundamentally, we are all strategic thinkers. Main description: Game theory—the study of how people make choices while interacting with others—is one of the most popular technical approaches in social science today. But as Michael Chwe reveals in his insightful new book, Jane Austen explored game theory’s core ideas in her six novels roughly two hundred years ago—over a century before its mathematical development during the Cold War. Jane Austen, Game Theorist shows how this beloved writer theorized choice and preferences, prized strategic thinking, and analyzed why superiors are often strategically clueless about inferiors. Exploring a diverse range of literature and folktales, this book illustrates the wide relevance of game theory and how, fundamentally, we are all strategic thinkers.
FrontmatterContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsCHAPTER TWO. Game Theory in ContextCHAPTER THREE. Folktales and Civil RightsCHAPTER FOUR. Flossie and the FoxCHAPTER FIVE. Jane Austen’s Six NovelsCHAPTER SIX. Austen’s Foundations of Game TheoryCHAPTER SEVEN. Austen’s Competing ModelsCHAPTER EIGHT. Austen on What Strategic Thinking Is NotCHAPTER NINE. Austen’s InnovationsCHAPTER TEN. Austen on Strategic Thinking’s DisadvantagesCHAPTER ELEVEN. Austen’s IntentionsCHAPTER TWELVE. Austen on CluelessnessCHAPTER THIRTEEN. Real-World CluelessnessCHAPTER FOURTEEN. Concluding RemarksAfterword to the Paperback EditionReferencesIndex.
