Conclusion
In conclusion, I shall indicate one consequence of (3.4). The major resultof work on infinitely iterated Prisoner's Dilemma games is that there existcooperative equilibria in such games. I have suggested above that myaccount of finitely, but indefinitely, iterated Prisoner's Dilemma gamesreflects the nature of genuine iterated Prisoner's Dilemmas more accu-rately than accounts involving infinite iterations. If my suggestion iscorrect, then one consequence of (3.4) - of there being only uncooperativeequilibria in finitely, but indefinitely, iterated games - is to call intoquestion the significance of the existence of cooperative equilibria ininfinitely iterated Prisoner's Dilemma games.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Axelrod, R.: 1981, ‘The emergence of cooperation among egoists’, American Political Science Review 75, 306–318.
Kavka, Gregory S.: 1983, ‘Hobbes's war of all against all’, Ethics 93, 291–310.
Luce, D. and Raiffa, H.: 1957, Games and Decisions, Wiley & Sons, New York.
Shubik, M.: 1970, ‘Game theory, behavior, and the paradox of the prisoner's dilemma: three solutions’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 14, 181–194.
Sobel, Jordan Howard: 1976, ‘Utility maximizers in iterated prisoner's dilemmas’, Dialogue 15, 38–53.
Taylor, M.: 1976, Anarchy and Cooperation, Wiley & Sons, London.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Thanks to Jules Coleman, Mark Isaac, John Pollock, and Gregory Karva for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Some of these results were presented as part of similar papers given at the 1986 meeting of the society for Exact Philosophy and at Bowling Green University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carroll, J.W. Indefinite terminating points and the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. Theor Decis 22, 247–256 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134087
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134087