Andrew Stone

Topic: The Philosophy of Games

In this course we will investigate two main questions. What characteristics make a certain activity a game? And what is the value of playing games? Along the way, we will consider several further questions about the place of games in our practical lives. How does game playing relate to consumption of fiction, and how should we make sense of works that are both fictions and games? Are there moral or epistemic hazards of game playing under certain circumstances, or of ‘gamifying’ certain activities? What can a philosophical investigation into games teach us about the shape of our practical agency more generally? Readings will include portions of Bernard Suits’ classic work on games, The Grasshopper, as well as more recent writings by C. Thi Nguyen and other philosophers currently working on games. This course will involve readings in several areas of philosophy as they apply to an investigation of the nature of games, including metaphysics, the philosophy of action, ethics, and aesthetics/the philosophy of art.