Art and IR Theory: Visual Semiotic Games

This book examines the correspondence between international relations (IR) theories of structural realism and constructivism and paintings, notably the artwork of Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, in a game theory setting. This interdisciplinary approach, through the lens of game theory and semiotics, permits different, enriched interpretations of structural realism and constructivism. These theories constitute an axis of debate between social and systemic approaches to international politics, as well as an axis of differentiation between scientific realism and positivism as philosophies of science. As such, the interpretations explored in this book contribute to what we know about international relations, how semiotics intersect with strategic uncertainty, and explains these interactions in the proposed games model.

The book's use of game theory and semiotics generate 'visual semiotic games' (VSGs) that shed light on the debate axes through strategic uncertainty, interactions, and players' interactive belief systems. VSGs will contribute to literature on experimental semiotics in the sense of players' coordination behavior, beliefs, and artistic evaluations. The equilibria, interpreted through branches of philosophy of mind and theories of explanation, will reveal possibilities of agreement among players about which artwork representing the theory at hand is the best, opening innovative research perspectives for the discipline of IR theory.

本書以博弈論的框架，探討國際關係理論中的結構現實主義和建構主義與繪畫，特別是馬克·羅斯科和傑克遜·波洛克的藝術作品之間的關聯。透過博弈論和符號學的觀點，這種跨學科的方法允許對結構現實主義和建構主義進行不同、豐富的解釋。這些理論構成了社會和系統方法在國際政治學中的辯論軸線，也構成了科學實在論和實證主義作為科學哲學的區分軸線。因此，本書探討的解釋對我們了解國際關係、符號學如何與戰略不確定性交叉以及解釋這些互動在提出的博弈模型中的作用有所貢獻。

本書運用博弈論和符號學生成「視覺符號遊戲」（VSGs），透過戰略不確定性、互動和玩家的互動信念系統，闡明了辯論軸線。VSGs將有助於關於實驗符號學的文獻，涉及玩家的協調行為、信念和藝術評價。透過心靈哲學和解釋理論的分支來解釋均衡，將揭示玩家在哪種代表該理論的藝術作品中達成一致的可能性，為國際關係理論學科開啟創新的研究視角。

​Serdar Ş. Güner obtained his PhD degree from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, the University of Geneva in 1990. His thesis is titled: A Game Theoretical Analysis of Alliance Formation and Dissolution: The Case Study of the Relationship Among the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China, 1949-1972. He spent the next two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Government, the University of Texas at Austin before joining the Department of International Relations, Bilkent University. He won Bilkent University Distinguished Teacher Award in 2002. Serdar Ş. Güner gave seminars and lectures on game theory and negotiation problems at various government agencies and universities, participated to international conventions, served as a referee for scientific journals. He is an amateur trumpet player and painter.

Serdar Ş. Güner於1990年從日內瓦大學國際研究研究所獲得博士學位。他的論文題為《聯盟形成和解散的博弈理論分析：以美國、蘇聯和中華人民共和國之間的關係為案例研究，1949-1972年》。在加入比爾肯特大學國際關係系之前，他在德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校政府系擔任博士後研究員兩年。他於2002年獲得比爾肯特大學傑出教師獎。Serdar Ş. Güner在各個政府機構和大學進行了關於博弈理論和談判問題的研討會和講座，參加了國際會議，並擔任科學期刊的審稿人。他是一位業餘的小號演奏家和畫家。