Simulating Philosophy: Interpreting Video Games As Executable Thought

Experiments

Presentation by Filip Funk

Marcus Schulzke

Marcus Schulzke● Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the School of Political and

International Studies at the University of Leeds.

● Has Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from Rutgers University

● Received Ph.D. from the University at Albany, SUNY○ Specializes in the areas of Political Theory and Comparative

Politics

● Currently studying military technologies, militaristic narratives in video games and social media, and war theory

About the Author

Simulating Philosophy: Interpreting Video Games As Executable Thought Experiments

The article examines narratives within contemporary video games and how they can be used to interpret philosophical and moral questions.

The Article

● Schulzke looks at how video games can be interpreted as virtual thought experiments.

● ‘Thought Experiments’ refer to hypothetical scenarios that are used to challenge or support a theory.○ Use of counterfactual reasoning to raise theoretical or empirical

questions

● Games are not usually designed to intentionally test philosophical problems, but their narratives, game world or gameplay may provide situations for users to challenge or prove theories.

Main Points

● Thought experiments are typically presented as narratives○ They lead the audience through a sequence of events that reflect

how one would experience the real world

● Often used to model situations that cannot be tested by empirical methods

● Much less danger than real-world experiments, no physical or moral harm done by them○ eg. Ethics of euthinasia

Thought Experiments in Philosophy

● Video games replace mental models with computer models, attempting to model the physical process in another medium

● Schulzke argues video games are best seen in a heuristic sense.○ Experience-based problem solving and learning to find a solution

● For example, games such as Fallout 3 are set in a reality where the Cold War escalated to global nuclear war.○ The entire series can be seen as a thought experiment of the

potential consequences of nuclear war

Thought Experiments in Video Games

● Players must solve quests that cover a large range of problems○ Ethics of assisted suicide○ Machines that resemble humans, believing they are human○ The types of social organizations people form in post-war

reality

● Players may come across robots who think they are Thomas Jefferson or Button Gwinnett.○ These robots have been programmed to act like signers of

the Declaration and truly believe that. ○ Raises the question of true identity

http://youtu.be/l2OubsFgoxM?t=3m51s

Fallout 3 - Nuclear War and True Identity

● Bioshock raises questions about free will and determinism in a very compelling way

● Players are offered freedom of how they accomplish their goals and are given simulated moral decisions○ To Save or Harvest Little Sisters

● Shows how easy it is to create an illusory feeling of freedom.○ Both part of the narrative but also the predetermined endings

http://youtu.be/CLgzYIRLjZo?t=1m3s

Bioshock - Free Will

● Video games allow players to carry out ‘experiments’ without real-world harm

● Philosophers can speculate over particular situations whereas video games allow players to engaged as actors rather than spectators.○ eg. Is it better to kill one person than to allow 20 to die.

● Players may experience moments like these in which their avatar must live with the consequences of the players’ actions.○ These consequences are much lighter but still simulate the

cost/benefit calculations absent in most thought experiments

The Execution Element

● Moral decisions may reflects the biases and views of the designers

● Most games evaluate players’ moral decisions according common sense standards of how people should act.

● Many games simplify what might otherwise be complex moral or philosophical decisions.○ Sicart argues games are not capable of raising meaningful moral

problems.○ Games such as Fable or Knights of the Old Republic allow players

to be just good or evil, very black and white.

Arguments against Video Game Thought Experiments

● Tavinor argues that, “The fictional worlds of video games are usually populated by moral caricatures rather than realistic ethical beings, where characters do things for morally banal reasons, and where the impacts of their actions are hardly ever revisited or reflected on.”

● He makes a point that games tend to rely on simplistic heroes and enemies that are absolute good or evil.

● However, with the growing complexity of games and technology, we are beginning to see games with more moral ambiguity○ The Witcher 2○ Skyrim

● More complex game worlds will allow designers to challenge players with difficult, more real decisions.

The Future of Philosophy in Video Games