Ce texte, qui représente la continuation d'un travail plus dense en l'histoire de la théorie des jeux et la formalisation de la théorie économique au XXme siècle, démontre l'existence de quelques liens entre les idées théoriques de von Neumann sur les jeux et les idées issues d'autres domaines scientifiques de la première moitié du XXme siècle. En particulier, on soutient que l'adoption de la métaphore du jeu en économie fait partie de l'évolution d'une perspective théorique plus générale, nommée l'approche structuraliste. Cette dernière interprète son objet théorique - que cela soit un texte littéraire, un système de parenté, ou une économie - comme un système en vase clos, avec sa propre logique interne, ses propres lois. En particulier, des textes spécifiques, ou des organisations sociales et économiques observées, sont maintenant interprétées comme des variations sur un thème de base, sur un invariant structurel. L'accent est maintenant mis, non plus sur des questions d'évolution et d'histoire, mais sur l'aspect statique et combinatoire. Afin de mettre cette thèse en valeur, nous faisons référence ici aux oeuvres de Saussure en linguistique et Lévi-Strauss en anthropologie, aux mouvements formalistes en mathématiques et en critique littéraire, ainsi qu'à la théorie des jeux de von Neumann et Morgenstern.
This paper, part of continued work on the history of game theory, seeks to illustrate certain links between von Neumann's theory of games and contemporaneous ideas in other fields. In particular, we claim that the emergence of the analytical metaphor of the game in economics can be viewed as part of a general reconceptualization of theory in a range of disciplines, denoted by the rubric Structuralism. This approach to theorising treated its object - be that a text, a kinship arrangement, or an economy - as a self-contained system, with its own internal logic, subject to its own laws. In particular, individual texts, observed social and economic arrangements, are viewed as variations on an underlying logical theme, on a structural invariant. The latter is to be uncovered, in the case of literary criticism, through the analysis of phonemes,; in kinship analysis, through the rules governing the exchange of women because of the incest taboo; in game theory, through the possibilities for equilibrium coalition formation, based on the stable set. There thus emerged a tendency, across the intellectual spectrum, towards seeing things in combinatorial terms, examining how objects held together rather than analysing where they came from: 19th century concerns with history, evolution, and individual psychology give way to a distinctly modern emphasis on synchronic, formal structure, on analogical reasoning. Recourse to the metaphor of th game was constitutive of this shift, which we examine by referring to Saussure's General Course in Linguistics, to Formalism in mathematics and literary analysis, to Lévi-Strauss's analysis of Kinship and myth, and to von Neumann & Morgenstern's theory of games.
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Length: Date of creation: Apr 1995 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:cre:uqamwp:9505
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