The first in a three-part series, this volume explores how game theory's strategic formulation of central problems in the analysis of social interactions is used to develop multi-level theories that examine the interplay between individuals and the collectives they form. The authors suggest that conventional analyses need to be broadened to explain how heuristics, like concepts of fairness, arise and become formalized into the ethical principles embraced by a society. The Games, Groups, God(s) and the Global Good symposium was chaired by Simon A. Levin, George M. Moffett Professor of Biology at Princeton University.