The Prisoner's Dilemma

Albert W. Tucker's note (on the preceding page), which is published here for the first time, was the first written description of what has come to be known as the prisoner's dilemma. The example in that note, with its accompanying story, has played a major role in social thought in the last thirty years. It is an example of a simple idea, originating in mathematical analysis, which can be said to have changed the way we think about our social world.