^aDepartment of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy, College of Staten Island/CUNY, 2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314, USA. E-mail: profmdwhite@hotmail.com

Abstract

The prisoners' dilemma game stands as a seminal case of the conflict between individual and collective rationality. Some scholars have suggested that Kantian duty-based ethics can prevent the suboptimal outcomes associated with the game. I argue that this claim is too strong, because Kant's moral theory does not entail specific duties requiring cooperation in prisoners' dilemma games. I support this argument in terms of Kant's categorical imperative, and also with reference to his distinction between perfect and imperfect duties.