Jim: Wars are complicated.
Sally:No they’re not. Every war that’s ever taken place just consists of a combina6on of individual people maximizing their u6lity: Maxx
U x) subject to px ? w
Jim: That’s a very extreme view. What we actually observe is that di?erent wars begin for di?erent reasons and are fought by di?erent people with di?erent aims. The only way to know if there are similari6es is to deeply study each case.
Sally: No. We know that there are deep similari6es. All human acton is based on u6lity maximiza6on. The only ques6on we need to answer is what kind qulity function is being maximized.
Jim: How do we “know” this?
Sally: Well…it’s just kind of obvious, isn’t it?
What is Sally assuming about the structure of the social world? How is her choice of analy6c language i.e. Max U x) subject to px ? w) involved in this?
What is Jim assuming about the structure of the social world?
Is Sally Installing a Bottom Turtle or Incorporating Arbitrariness?