The Evolution of the Social Contract by Brian Skymrs : A critical book review

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Philosophy - Philosophy of the Present, University of Bayreuth, language: English, abstract: This is a critical book review of Brian Syrms's book on evolutionary choice theory "The Evolution of the Social Contract" which also incorporates thesis and critique of other scientists and researchers in this field such as E. Sober and Barrett. It is in particular interesting to people who first approach this topic or who are generally interested in the evolution of humanity. This review introduces such reader in an easy-to-read yet sophisticated manner to the question of "how and why does cooperation, social practices and conventions evolve" approached by applying game theory. This may be strikingly new as this field of science is still in its fledging stages and the author Skyrms is one of its pioneers. Brian Skyrms is a Distinguished Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science and Economics at the University of California, Irvine and a Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University.