Evolution and Rationality

Samir Okasha is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Bristol. He is the author of Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (2002) and Evolution and the Levels of Selection (2006). Ken Binmore is Professor Emeritus of Economics at University College London and a Visiting Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol. He is the author of Natural Justice (2005), Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction (2007) and Rational Decisions (2008).

'… philosophers of economics might feel that this book focuses too much on evolutionary theory, but I believe that it tackles a lot of questions that are of interest for them as well. It also shows that there is a lot we do not yet understand … Evolution and Rationality provides strong evidence that biologists, economists and philosophers have a lot to gain from discussing these issues together.' Wiljan Van Den Berge, Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

• Editors introduction; 1. Towards a Darwinian theory of strategic decision-making: games and the biological roots of behaviour Peter Hammerstein; 2. What do humans maximize? Claire El Mouden, Maxwell Burton-Chellew, Andy Gardner and Stuart West; 3. Natural selection and rational decisions Alasdair Houston; 4. Evolution, dynamics and rationality: the limits of ESS methodology Simon Huttegger and Kevin Zollman; 5. Are rational actor models 'rational' outside small worlds? Henry Brighton and Gerd Gigerenzer; 6. Pull, push or both? Indirect evolution in economics and beyond Siegfried Berninghaus, Werner Güth and Hartmut Kliemt; 7. Schelling formalized: strategic choices of non-rational behaviour David H. Wolpert and Julian Jamison; 8. Human cooperation and reciprocity Jack Vromen; 9. Team reasoning, framing and cooperation Natalie Gold; 10. An evolutionary perspective on the unification of the behavioural sciences Herbert Gintis; 11. From fitness to utility Kim Sterelny.