In this view, the theory of Nash (leading to the maximum-utility-product solution) is a response to the fact that even in the realm of mathematics there are offhand too many types of uniqueness or symmetry to provide an unambiguous rule for selection, hence a need to adduce plausible criteria (axioms) sufficient to yield an unambiguous selection. Braithwaite’s theory can be characterized the same way. The fact that the two solutions conflict implies that mathematicians may not have a sufficiently common mathematical aesthetic to satisfy the first part of the Harsanyi postulate, that is, to coordinate their expectations on the same outcome.

XREF: Connects to bargaining theory and social choice literature, and the broader debate about whether mathematics is discovered (uniquely determined) or constructed (plural).

Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, loc. 861