Cooperation Un-Veiled

A moral-philosophy model of contractualism WITHOUT a veil of ignorance: a society of Mr.1-Mr.100 with a strength gradient generates a hierarchy of oppression-banning agreements (power-based utility ratios), which then unravels by backward induction exactly like the finite iterated prisoner's dilemma, absurdly leaving even the second-weakest person unwilling to sign a no-gratuitous-cruelty pact. Scott flags the result as broken and leaves it open, seeking a 'superrational' fix. Contains the memorable SF aside about perfect-game-theorist aliens who live in harmony until 'some idiot performs a census' and the whole planet collapses into total war.

Quality 65 · Strong. Strong (65): original, memorable modeling with a real insight (power-ratio morality maps onto king/servant dynamics) and a vivid unraveling; not higher because Scott himself concludes it 'doesn't work' and leaves it explicitly unresolved.

Claude’s paradigm shift 50 · Moderate. Moderate (50): a fresh, non-obvious angle on Rawls/contractualism (drop the veil, add a power gradient + induction), building on existing game-theory and contractualist ideas.

Real-world impact 2 · Minor. Minor-plus (2): niche moral-philosophy/rationalist interest; an exploratory sketch that didn't seed a durable framework.