Hey You Liar

PURELY SELFISH GAMES

What is a “purely selfish game?” In other words, what does the qualifier “purely” add to the concept of “selfish?” What work does it do? And are there other games which, although being selfish, would not be considered to be purely selfish? What would a partly selfish game look like? Must selfishness necessarily be an all-or-nothing affair?

Of course, we have not yet directly addressed the concept of “selfishness” itself. Where, in other words, does legitimate self-interest end and selfishness begin? Is the demarcation clear or is it a matter of reflective judgement? If so, on what grounds would such judgements be considered legitimate? Of course, this raises the further question relating to the criteria in terms of which the legitimacy of the grounds of judgement are themselves to be determined. Write back soon.

A pleasure as always,

Cheerio!