dr_who@umcp-cs.UUCP (08/12/83)
Reply to Bill Price:
Your main claim is this:
Let's try this: Altruism is only consistent with the assumption that
life is a zero(or negative!)-sum game; Capitalism is only consistent
with the assumption that life is a positive-sum game.
As you doubtlessly know, there are at least two definitions of altruism
going around: mine and Tom Craver's. Since you don't specify which (if
either) of these definitions you use, I don't know how to interpret the
first part of your statement.
However, I am baffled as to why you think that altruism or capitalism is
inconsistent with ANY assumption about what kind of "game" life is. It
seems to me that one could be an altruist (in either my sense or Tom's) and
believe that life is a positive-sum game, without there being any conflict
between these views. Similarly for capitalism and negative-sum games.
--Paul Torek, U of MD College Park