Selfish Agent

A Selfish Agent is an agent who leans towards selfish acts.

• AKA: Self-Interested Agent.
• Context:
  • They can be a member of a Selfish Group (Banfield, 1967).
• Example(s):
  • a Rational Economic Agent, such as the Sicilian Families encountered in (Banfield, 1967).
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • an Other-Interested Agent, such as a Kin-Altruist Agent or an Disinterested Altruist Agent.
• See: Game Theory, Economic Agent, Rational Agent.

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References

2011

• (Kahneman, 2011) ⇒ Daniel Kahneman. (2011). “Thinking, Fast and Slow." Macmillan. ISBN:0374533555
  • QUOTE: ... Bruno Frey barely recalls writing the piece, but I can still recite its first sentence: “The agent of economic theory is rational, selfish, and his tastes do not change.” ...

2008

• (Brown & Shoham, 2008) ⇒ Kevin Leyton-Brown, and Yoav Shoham. (2008). “Essentials of Game Theory: A Concise Multidisciplinary Introduction." Synthesis Lectures on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, 2(1). doi:10.2200/S00108ED1V01Y200802AIM003
  • ABSTRACT: Game theory is the mathematical study of interaction among independent, self-interested agents.

1967

• (Banfield, 1967) ⇒ Edward C. Banfield. (1967). “The Moral Basis of a Backward Society."

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