Jump to content

Talk:Common knowledge (logic)/to do

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Add Aumann structures
  • Add agreeing-to-disagree results
  • Add stuff about coordinated attack


  • The article should cite Morris Friedell's 1969 paper ``On the Structure of Shared Awareness. This paper introduced common knowledge independently of Lewis; in fact Friedell's working paper antedated Lewis, although Friedell did not have the same impact on the literature as Lewis did.
  • Although Lewis used the term ``common knowledge (as did Friedell) Friedell's definition is much closer to the modern standard definition. In fact, Lewis's definition uses an infinite hierarchy not of knowledge, but of ``reason to believe. Lewis himself later admitted that the term was inappropriate for his definition, and regretted his choice of the name. (See his ``Truth in Fiction, 1978, pg. 44 n. 12)
  • Schelling should probably also be cited here. (Strategy of Conflict 1960: 54; cf 178, cf. RAND report 1959: 40-41) Lewis was reading Schelling when he wrote Convention.
  • It's not obvious that Schiffer's development of mutual knowledge was independent of Lewis's. By the time Schiffer published, Lewis's book had been out for three years. Schiffer had also discussed the ideas with Lewis at that point; this needs to be fixed.

Start a discussion