Artificial Morality: Virtuous Robots for Virtual Games

✍ Scribed by Peter Danielson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 255
• Edition: annotated edition
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Artificial Morality shows how to build moral agents that succeed in competition with amoral agents. Peter Danielson's agents deviate from the received theory of rational choice. They are bound by moral principles and communicate their principles to others. The central thesis of the book is that these moral agents are more successful in crucial tests, and therefore rational.

Artificial Morality is inspired by artificial intelligence. The solution presented to the problem of rationality and morality is constructive: the building of better moral robots. Danielson uses robots paired in abstract games that model social problems, such as environmental pollution, which reward co-operators but even more those who benefit from others' constraint. It is shown that virtuous, not vicious, robots do better in these virtual games.

✦ Table of Contents

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of figures......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 12
How to avoid reading some of this book......Page 14
RATIONALITY AND MORALITY......Page 18
FUNDAMENTAL JUSTIFICATION AND GAMES......Page 34
NATURE AND ARTIFICE......Page 54
CONDITIONAL CO-OPERATION......Page 76
RECIPROCAL CO-OPERATION......Page 103
A MORAL MONSTER?......Page 126
FLEXIBLE PLAYERS......Page 144
INFORMATION AND ITS COSTS......Page 163
CHICKEN......Page 178
DISCRIMINATION, FAIRNESS AND SANCTIONS......Page 194
CONCLUSION......Page 210
A GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS......Page 218
PROLOG IMPLEMENTATIONS......Page 220
Predicates into functions......Page 221
Reading decision procedures......Page 222
How to copy a principle......Page 223
Notes......Page 225
Bibliography......Page 244
Index......Page 251