1. Prisoner Dilemmas and Social Contract as a Foundation for Ethics
YunTech
Prisoner Dilemmas and Social Contract as a Foundation for Ethics

2. Conditions of Prisoner Dilemma
Consequences for self or organization depends on behavior, actions, choices of others
Worse off by all pursuing perceived self-interest

3. X/Y Game Strategies Free Rider (X/ Y)
Cooperation/ Morality /Social Contract (Y/Y)
State of Nature (X/X)
Sucker (Y/X)

4. Prisoner Dilemma Key Points
Minimalist assumptions of human (self-interest and rationality) still lead to cooperative strategies as better for self
Paradox -- Worse off pursuing self-interest; better to do what is not in one’s self-interest
Morality -- rules of social cooperation/ social contract

5. Lessons from Prisoner Dilemma Exercises (and Leadership Implications)
Goal clarity/ ambiguity
Insure that there is clarity on mission and goals
Strategy (short-term gain/risk vs. long-term cooperation)
Focus on long-term perspective (as well as short-term)
Limited communication
Take responsibility to maximize communication
Communication  Agreement/ understanding
Develop Social Contract with input from all
Necessity of trust
Build and maintain culture of trust

6. Hobbes’ Conditions of Nature
Equality of Needs
Scarcity
Equality of Power
Limited Altruism

7. Hobbes’ Facts of Nature
Equality of Need
Scarcity
Equality of Power
Limited Altruism
Cooperation
Competition
State of Nature
“war of all against all”
“solitary, poor, brutish, short”
Social Contract
Fundamental Rules and Basic Elements?
1st Law: “seek peace” but “defend ourselves”
2nd Law: “lay down right to all things”

8. Hobbes: The Self As Starting Point
Life is Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short
Self-Preservation: A War of All Against All

10. An Alternative View of Human Nature (Adam Smith)
Theory of moral sentiment
Natural sympathy
Empathy
“Fellow feeling”
“Of this kind is pity or compassion”
“to feel much for others…constitutes the perfection of human nature”

11. Rules and Elements for a Social Contract
If you were forming and joining a group, what would your first principles and elements of your social contract be?
Such that all would agree to them.
Morality as Social Contract
Morality-- set of rules to enhance social living that rational people would choose for mutual benefit, on condition that all will follow same rules (James Rachels)

12. Social Contract as Basis of Individual and Corporate / Organizational Ethics
Social Contract provides basis of individual responsibilities
Are there personal responsibilities that go beyond the social contract? Commitment to personal core values and principles.
Aristotle and virtue ethics
Social Contract provides basis for corporate/ organizational responsibilities
Are there social responsibilities that go beyond industry codes and other formal responsibilities? Commitment to corporate core values and principles.
Corporate values-based leadership.

13. Basic Rules and Elements
Do No Harm
Keep Agreements
Equality - Reciprocity
Government/ Organization - Roles
Processes
Creation-Modification
Monitoring-Enforcing
Dispute Resolution

14. Organizational Social Contract
What should be our basic rules of engagement?
What are the minimum expectations of one another?
What should be our core values guiding our interactions with one another?
Fundamental Rules of Behavior

15. Process for Building Social Contract Across Cultures and Organizations
Universal / Maximum participation
Building from bottom up
Written or verbal?
Commitment – signatures?
Process to deal with violations
Process to revisit and revise