Michael Taylor (political theorist)
Encyclopedia
Michael Taylor is a political theorist and political economist who currently teaches at the University of Washington
. His research interests include rational choice theory, moral motivation and game theory
.
Game theory was applied in social sciences before Taylor's work, which propose a theory for a rationally motivated cooperation, that is, cooperation that maximizes utility. Taylor explains the game of chicken, in which cooperation is a Nash equilibrium
, and notes that it is often mistaken for a prisoners dilemma, in which cooperation is dominated by selfish strategies. Following analyses by the mathematician Stephen Smale
and experiments by the political scientist Daniel Axelrod, Taylor has argued that spontanteous cooperation emerges in repeated prisoners' dilemmas.
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. His research interests include rational choice theory, moral motivation and game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
.
Game theory was applied in social sciences before Taylor's work, which propose a theory for a rationally motivated cooperation, that is, cooperation that maximizes utility. Taylor explains the game of chicken, in which cooperation is a Nash equilibrium
Nash equilibrium
In game theory, Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a game involving two or more players, in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only his own strategy unilaterally...
, and notes that it is often mistaken for a prisoners dilemma, in which cooperation is dominated by selfish strategies. Following analyses by the mathematician Stephen Smale
Stephen Smale
Steven Smale a.k.a. Steve Smale, Stephen Smale is an American mathematician from Flint, Michigan. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966, and spent more than three decades on the mathematics faculty of the University of California, Berkeley .-Education and career:He entered the University of...
and experiments by the political scientist Daniel Axelrod, Taylor has argued that spontanteous cooperation emerges in repeated prisoners' dilemmas.