Reciprocity, Altruism and the Civil Society: In Praise of Heterogeneity. Routledge Advances in Game Theory Series., Volume 4.

by Luigino Bruni

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The main emphasis of this new book from Luigino Bruni is a praise of heterogeneity, arguing that society works when different people are able to cooperate in many different ways. The author engages in a novel approach to reciprocity looking at its different forms in society, from cautious or contractual interactions, to the reciprocity of friendship to unconditional behaviour.

Bruni'ss historical-methodological analysis of reciprocity is a way of examining the interface between political economy and the issue of sociality, generally characterized by 'two hundred years of solitude' of the homo economicus. This historical analysis exposes an absence and this book looks at the reasons why among the many forms of reciprocity present in the civil life economics has chosen to deal just with the simplest ones (contracts and repeated self-interested interactions). The second part of the book is an analysis (with repeated and evolutionary games) of the interactions of the three forms of reciprocity faced with a forth strategy; the non-reciprocity.

  • ISBN10 6611394761
  • ISBN13 9786611394769
  • Publish Date 19 May 2008 (first published 28 August 2003)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Out of Print 21 August 2012
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Taylor & Francis Group
  • Format eBook
  • Language English