| Today, game theory---loosely defined as the mathematics of rational decision-making by interacting individuals---is central to our current understanding of capitalist markets, the evolution of social behavior in animals, and the ethics of altruism and fairness in human beings. Yet contemporary game theory was largely forged in the context of America during the Cold War, and the theory spoke to the great problems of that time and place. Cold War intellectuals, from military planners to disarmament advocates, consistently turned to game theory for guidance in their debates on the nature of rationality, conflict, and cooperation in the thermonuclear age, and on the relationship between individuality and group conformity in an America menaced by communism and internal social divisions.;This dissertation examines the game-theoretic legacy of these debates. It argues that, when consulted on Cold War issues, game theory rarely spoke with one voice. Indeed, Cold War game theory led its practitioners to a greater appreciation of the ambiguities involved in any depiction of rational interaction. The unfolding of this process of discovery involved years of reflection, millions of dollars in research grants (from civilian and military funding agencies) and substantial disciplinary discord. As a result, the mantle of game theory was assumed by a wide variety of research traditions with very different epistemological, cultural, and even political commitments that endure to this day. This process has left behind a historical record that is an invaluable resource for us today as we contemplate the apparent triumph of the game as a tool for interrogating both human and natural orders. |
