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It looks that the expression "the tragedy of the commons" comes from Garrett Hardin's article "The Tragedy of the Commons," Garrett Hardin, Science, 162(1968):1243-1248. Quote from the article: "The rebuttal to the invisible hand in population control is to be found in a scenario first sketched in a little-known Pamphlet in 1833 by a mathematical amateur named William Forster Lloyd (1794-1852). [6] We may well call it "the tragedy of the commons," using the word "tragedy" as the philosopher Whitehead used it [7]: "The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides in the solemnity of the remorseless working of things." He then goes on to say, "This inevitableness of destiny can only be illustrated in terms of human life by incidents which in fact involve unhappiness. For it is only by them that the futility of escape can be made evident in the drama."" http://www.dieoff.org/page95.htm My interpretation of this, is that mathematical amateur named William Forster Lloyd used the overexploitation of the commons as an example, but the expression was used by the first time by Hardin. Joao |
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