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    FIRST PRINCIPLES

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    Ethics and Decision-Making

    Distributive Justice and Fair Allocation

    Apply first principles to ethical questions. Explore how game theory and formal reasoning can illuminate questions of fairness and justice.

    "Harsanyi showed that ethics is not merely opinion - questions of fairness can be analyzed with the same rigor we apply to economics."
    — First Principles

    First principles thinking applies not only to practical problems but also to ethical questions. How should benefits and burdens be distributed? What counts as fair? Can we reason about ethics with the same rigor we apply to other domains?

    John Harsanyi pioneered the application of game theory to ethics, developing a utilitarian framework grounded in rational choice theory. His work on distributive justice showed how questions of "fair shares" can be analyzed systematically rather than left to political opinion.

    In this topic, you will learn to apply first principles reasoning to ethical questions, understand the connection between game theory and ethics, and develop frameworks for fair decision-making.

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    Related Topics

    Cooperative Game Theory

    Finding win-win outcomes

    The Intellectual Tradition

    History of first principles thought

    Identifying Fundamental Truths

    Finding bedrock truths

    1

    Ethical questions can be analyzed rigorously, not just debated

    2

    Fairness involves both process and outcome

    3

    Cooperative game theory illuminates fair allocation

    4

    Long-term thinking aligns self-interest with ethical behavior

    5

    The veil of ignorance: what rules would you want if you did not know your position?

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