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Video games are a quite recent invention and they became popular far after being invented, maybe by the 90s. However, I think video games somehow affected my worldview and produced some ideas. I will give a few examples of mine, which might or might not be new. Which I might believe in right now or might not.

  1. The reality is a game. Being similar to or containing within a simulation hypothesis, it also involves the notion of players. Latter might have connotations with gods, guardian angels, etc. but the player might not be necessarily tied to any character (human, animal, etc.).

  2. Everyone else is an NPC (non-player character). Reminds of solipsism.

  3. We can't change our past decisions in the video games where the save/load feature is limited. Especially in MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games). Why would not the same hold for the reality? Why would presentism be false?

These were only a few examples, there are quite many philosophical ideas related to it. What I'm asking is what is the impact of video games on philosophy. Can I read somewhere about it?

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  • What are NPC and MMORPG? Would you consider these stack exchanges video games? I sort of do, but maybe that is not what you had in mind.
    – Frank Hubeny
    Commented Sep 29, 2018 at 13:42
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    @FrankHubeny, video games don't have good definitions like movies or fiction. But one sites, forums, etc. themselves are not video games (I doubt they can be called games at all).
    – rus9384
    Commented Sep 29, 2018 at 13:50
  • @rus9384...have you seen-irishtimes.com/culture/…> just I was looking up...
    – drvrm
    Commented Sep 29, 2018 at 14:13
  • How about respawns (being able to be "reincarnated" after you died)? This would present more discussion on the post-death topic. In general, I think video games, as much as most new technologies (movies, robots, ai, etc) present mainly ethical questions (that may or may not be related directly to metaphysical questions).
    – Yechiam Weiss
    Commented Sep 29, 2018 at 15:05
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    Sounds more like philosophy had an impact on your interpretation of video games than vice versa.
    – henning no longer feeds AI
    Commented Sep 29, 2018 at 20:12

3 Answers 3

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What I'm asking is what is the impact of video games on philosophy. Can I read somewhere about it?

I am simply posting some materials which may be useful.

Playing with Good and Evil: Video games and Moral Philosophy by Peter E. Rauch ABSTRACT;

Despite an increasingly complex academic discourse, the video game medium lacks an agreed-upon definition. Its relationship to previous media is somewhat unclear, and the unique attributes of the medium have not yet been fully cataloged.

Drawing on theory suggesting that video games can convey ideas, I will argue that the video game medium is capable of modeling and critiquing elements of moral philosophy in a unique manner.

To make this argument, I first address a number of questions about the proper definition of video games, how games in general and video games specifically convey ideas, and how games can be constructed to form arguments.

Having defined my terms, I will conduct case studies on three games (Fable, Command & Conquer: Generals, and The Punisher), clarifying how the design of each could be modified to address a specific philosophical issue. Thesis Supervisor: Henry Jenkins Title: Professor of Comparative Media Studies

The Influence of Video Games on Social, Cognitive, and Affective Information Processing

Kira Bailey, Robert West, and Craig A. Anderson

The Oxford Handbook of Social Neuroscience This chapter first reviews literature examining the effects of video games from the perspective of social, cognitive, effective, and education science.

It also considers how knowledge from social and cognitive neuroscience may serve to enhance our understanding of the effects of video game experience. The literature reveals some paradoxical effects wherein experience with the same types of games can lead to an increase in aggression, a decrease in cognitive control, and an increase in visuospatial abilities.

A consideration of the behavioral, neuroanatomical, and physiological bases of the effects of video games leads to the suggestion that exposure to these media is associated with plasticity within neural networks supporting a high-level vision, emotion processing, cognitive control, and social decision making.

Future investigations focusing on within and between domain comparisons using behavioral and neuromonitoring techniques are likely to provide greater insight into the neural basis of the effects of video games.

ref.-

http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195342161.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195342161-e-066

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Here are some references that may be helpful. The idea that you may be a brain in a vat is related (you could think of that as a virtual reality game). More specifically, there is the book Philosophers Explore The Matrix, in which philosophers consider that movie. Here is a recent paper that discusses, from a philosophical perspective, looking in on a computer simulation, and here is another one that explicitly draws inspiration from MMORPGs.

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Preface:--

You can skip to the YouTube videos, if you wish to bypass the theory.

I am simply posting some materials which may be useful.

This answer is going to be somewhat unorthodox. Video games are simply not a standard way of doing Philosophy. Please bear with me and kindly be open-minded. This is a tricky question to answer. Thank you.

Sit around the virtual- camp-fire and enjoy some YouTube videos. I like you, so, some of the games here are even free-to-download and without micro-transactions.

How This Answer Works:--

(1) I'll give you an example of philosophy in video games.

(2) Then I'll give you an example of a debate that has or could potentially occur in the context of analytic philosophy.

(3) After that, you get the academic citation.

Dungeons & Dragons (tabletop role-playing game) / Baldur's Gate

Point of debate / impact: Is Ilmater, from Baldur's Gate and Dungeons & Dragons (tabletop role-playing game), a valid way to teach folks morals? It is open for debate and academic-philosophical interpretation.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables)

Further Reading:--

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13590644-dungeons-and-dragons-and-philosophy?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=tksbR2Ox2z&rank=1)

Fare Thee Well

"In the winter of 1967, a young man enters out of the snowy night into a bar in the sleepy town of Cedar, Maine. He is a wanderer cursed with eternal youth, sent out by fate forever to roam the world, never to find a home. An encounter with a girl in a green dress is about to change everything..."

– "Fare Thee Well by Watercress." Watercress - itch.io. Web. < http://watercress.itch.io/fare-thee-well >.

[Emphasis via bold-text was set by me; and it is not from the original source.]

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHvNbYzf_oI)

A girl meets an immortal in this video game.

The game is free to download with no micro-transactions, so you can just download it here: < https://watercress.itch.io/fare-thee-well >.

Point of debate / impact: Is it ethical for an immortal to interact with mortals? It is open for debate and academic-philosophical interpretation.

I could not find academic citations for Fare Thee Well:--

(https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=fare+thee+well+visual+novel&btnG=)

Assassin's Creed (franchise)

[a] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FThVFUzol2k)

[b] (https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/14/21259446/ubisoft-assassins-creed-odyssey-origins-greece-egypt-free-discovery-tours)

[c] Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry's (stand-alone- version) "Stand-Alone Trailer" condemns slavery, which is universally immoral. (I've chosen not to link to it because it is intense. As a rational adult, you have to decide whether to view it or not.)

[d]:

"Ah Tabai: And what do you think of our Creed?

Edward Kenway: It's hard to say. For if Nothing is true, then why believe anything? And if everything is permitted... why not chase every desire?

Ah Tabai: Why indeed?

Edward Kenway: It might be that this idea is only the beginning of Wisdom, and not its final form.

Ah Tabai: That's quite a step up from the Edward I met here many years ago. [sic] "

– Montreal, Ubisoft. "Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag." Montreuil: Ubisoft (2013).

Point of debate / impact: With these examples, is it reasonable to conclude that Assassin's Creed (franchise) is semi-educational? It is open for debate and academic-philosophical interpretation.

Further Reading:--

Planescape: Torment

Planescape: Torment is a title I haven't sampled, yet. You might want to check it out.

Daggerfall

Skip to [4:40] in the video below:--

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0NACVQ1pCA)

The game is free to download with no micro-transactions, so you can just download it here: < https://www.dfworkshop.net/projects/daggerfall-unity/live-builds/ >.

Point of debate / impact: Do you think morality should be tested in such a system, like per the video above? It is open for debate and academic-philosophical interpretation.

I could not find academic citations for Daggerfall:--

(https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=philosophy+of+daggerfall&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5)

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