View a FREE sample

Chapter 1 Dilemmas

• In the beginning of the book, the author details a few hypothetical ethical dilemmas.

• One dilemma involved two loved ones in separate rooms, with one hour to decide if they would push or not push a button that would kill the other.

• The added issue was that if neither pushed the button within the hour they would both die.
• This chapter also details the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• A philosopher and a mathematician push for a first strike against the Soviet Union by the United States.

• During this time a deterrence doctrine of "mutually assured destruction" is held by many, and fortunately the Cold War ended without nuclear exchange.
• Game theory logic uses some of the strategic thinking advocated during the Cold War.

• Competitive games such as prisoner's dilemma are an example where rational action leads to harm to both...

(read more Chapter Abstracts)

This section contains 1,367 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample