Time: 13:30-15:55

Venue: Xinzhai 301, Tsinghua University

Speaker: Olivier Roy (University of Bayreuth)

Adam Brandenburger (NYU Stern School of Business）

Section 1:Deontic Logic and Game Theory (by Olivier Roy)

Abstract: What is the logical structure of rational recommendations in strategic interaction? After clarifying and motivating that question, I will provide a critical survey of the existing literature on the topic, and argue for one specific approach that defines obligation and permissions, respectively, in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions for rationality.

Section 2: EpistemicGame Theory (by Adam Brandenburger)

Abstract: For John von Neumann, who founded game theory in 1928, the foundamental question in a game was how a player should choose a strategy without knowing what strategies other players choose. His answer was his maximin (``protective") decision criterion, which gives a player the highest possible payoff independent of other players' choices. In his famous 1951 work, John Nash took a very different approach. His concept of equilibrium effectively assumes that each player in a game actually does know the strategies adopted by the other players, and each player chooses an optimal strategy in light of this information. Epistemic game theory restores von Neumann's starting point, but then proceeds differently. In this new approach, players make predictions rather than choose protectively. A game model now includes a structure that talks about what each player thinks the other players' strategies are, what each player thinks other players think the strategies are, and so on to higher-order thinking about thinking. This richer language of interaction offers the promise that findings from the cognitive sciences (psychology and neuroscience, in particular) can now be injected into game theory, to help the field advance from principle-based to fact-based analysis of games. In this talk, I will go through this story, using some material from my book The Language of Game Theory: Putting Epistemics into the Mathematics of Games(WorldScientific, 2014).

Short bio: Adam Brandenburger holds appointments at New York University as J.P. Valles Professor at the Stern School of Business, Distinguished Professor at the Tandon School of Engineering, Faculty Director of the NYU Shanghai Program on Creativity + Innovation, and Global Network Professor. He was a professor at Harvard Business School from 1987 to 2002. He received his B.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cambridge. Adam researches in the areas of game theory, information theory, and business strategy.