The papers collected in this volume relate to game theory. They aim at
the elaboration and discussion of basic con- cepts, at the analysis of
specific applied models and at the evaluation of experimental evidence.
A game is a mathematical model of a situation where several actors with
different goals are engaged in strategic inter- action. Game theory
explores the nature and the consequence. s of rational behavior in
games. With respect to several papers in this volume, it seems to be
appropriate to comment on later developments. A list of some important
references is given at the end of the intro- duction. References already
included in the collected pa- pers are not repeated here. In casual
conversation colleagues sometimes observe that the author on the one
hand goes to extremes in the elabora- tion of the consequences of
Bayesian rationality and on the other hand strongly emphasizes the
limited rationality of actual decision behavior. This seeming
discrepancy is also expressed in the collection presented here. The
author thinks that a sharp distinction should be made between nor- ative
and descriptive game theory. This position of "methodological dualism"
has been expressed in a comment to Aumann's paper "What is game theory
trying to accomplish?" (Aumann, 1985, Selten 1985) Normative game theory
has the important task to explore the nature and the consequences of
idealized full rationality in strategic interaction. This requires a
thorough discuss- ion of first principles. Empirical arguments are
irrelevant here.
