Il costo dell'organizzazione della cooperazione sociale

The Costs of Organising Social Cooperation

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

The organisation of social cooperation is a public good that comes about only at a cost. A utilitarian explanation of the emergence and maintenance of the basic institutions of social organisation must show why rational individuals should be willing to incur these costs. This classical problem of explanatory utilitarianism shows up partly within the game theoretical analyses that are meant to solve it. The question of how to explain the emergence of a cooperative game within or from an uncooperative one arises. The assumption that there are inner commitments that go beyond considerations of expediency seems to be unavoidable. It is argued that this assumption is incompatible with a fundamental philosophical premise of the utilitarian approach. But it is also indicated how a "tecnology of commitment" can be incorporated into a broadly utilitarian framework.