The Foole, the Shepherd, and the Knave

The Reconciliation Project, the attempt to show that justice is compatible with rational prudence, is evaluated in light of the classic challenges of Hobbes’ Foole, Plato’s Lydian Shepherd, and Hume’s Sensible Knave. Hobbes’ response to the Foole is justice-reciprocalist, emphasizing social sanctions, and is naturally interpreted in terms of folk theorem interactions of repeated games. Plato’s justice-Platonist response to the Shepherd, who has identity-concealing power, emphasizes goods allegedly inseparable from justice. A new Invisible Foole challenge is considered where an agent like the Foole who takes seriously only social sanctions acquires identity-concealment technology, and folk theorem responses are proposed for this challenge. The Invisible Foole challenge is similar to the most serious challenge, that of the Sensible Knave. The most compelling response to the Knave’s challenge combines elements of justice-reciprocalism and justice-Platonism.