Prisoner

’s Dilemma Essay, Research Paper

The Prisoner’s Dilemma: A Stepping-Stone To The Refutation Of Pure Self-Interest And A Guide To Political And Moral Obligation

The prisoner’s dilemma is a well-known example in moral philosophy that characterizes some of the difficulties that arise when studying moral and justice theory. Throughout this paper it will be used as the vehicle to go from the different ideas of morality and justice. The purpose of this journey is to reach a refutation of pure self-interest, as proposed by Thomas Hobbes, as the guiding principle in considering the morality of actions. Thus this paper will touch on almost all of the different areas covered during the course of the semester and hopes to bind many of them together in a meaningful way.

The prisoner’s dilemma operates in the following manner: Two prisoners, who cooperated in a crime together, are brought before an attorney general, one after the other so that each is unable to learn of the events that take place with their partner. They are told that if they confess to their crimes (i.e. turn their partner in) they themselves will be allowed to walk free while their partner will spend ten years in jail. This is only true however if it is just one of the prisoners who confesses; if both confess then they will each have to spend five years in jail. Finally the third alternative, if neither of the prisoners confesses, is that each will spend one year in jail.

Taking the problem from a strictly individualistic and self-interested point of view the solution seems deceptively obvious: to confess. In this way you, the hypothetical prisoner, are assured of going free which is something that you would want. However the problem is not nearly as simple as this because there is still the factor of the other prisoner to consider. Obviously he would also choose to confess, as it would be in his own best interest as well. But if both confess then each one would be sentenced to five years. This is not the best option for either of them.

Let’s try analyzing the problem in another fashion. If they do confess then one will be let off or they both have to spend five years in jail. If they don’t confess then either they both spend one year “behind bars” or one of them spends ten years there. Looked at in this fashion, from the sum-total of the results of confession vs. non-confession, it is apparent that the most logical thing to do is turn your partner in. In doing so the least unpleasant overall results would occur. However, instead of grouping the results on a confession/non-confession level they could also be grouped according to simple results in order of preference. Such a grouping would be of the form: no time, a year, five years, and ten years. Obviously the first scenario is the most desirable but there is no certain way for either prisoner to achieve it because its coming about rests on what the other prisoner does. To allow for the possibility of such a result at least one confession is required. So from this point of view it is in either prisoner’s best interest to confess to the crime. Each one hopes to be let go but is assured of avoiding the worst case scenario of ten years incarceration.

The problem is set up in such a way that the prisoners are unable to confer with each other, and that the second prisoner is unable to know the decision of the first. If the latter condition were removed then the decision process would instantly be resolved for the second prisoner. However, the alteration of the problem to include the opportunity for discussion brings up further possibilities that deserve attention. It would be unreasonable to think that one of the prisoners would agree to allow the other to confess and not also confess himself. Such an action on the part of the first prisoner would not be in accordance with the doctrine of (pure) self-interest, and so far this is the only standpoint that has been established in this paper. The only agreement that could rationally be made by the prisoners, were they allowed to confer, is for them both to remain silent. This would be the optimific scenario for both them combined as it would lead to a minimum sentence. Anything else and the probability of more jail time goes up for both. This solution falls apart though when the prisoners are once again separated and allowed to make their final decisions alone. There is no reason why either prisoner should want to keep an agreement that they made with the other, now that breaking of the covenant would lead to the better consequence for each one alone. But if they both break their agreement then the result is worse than if they had both remained silent. Such is the paradox that arises when one narrowly follows what is in one’s own best interest. There is however more support for abandoning pure self-interest than just avoiding paradoxical situations.

As has been mentioned before this problem has been approached from the view of pure self-interest alone. If this weren’t the case then there would be other solutions, and more readily available ones. One such approach would be from the standpoint of utilitarianism where the first choice would be to do the most good for the greatest number of people and have neither prisoner confess. This of course assumes that being a utilitarian is the overriding concern and the moral code for either prisoner. In addition another such case would be