Robichaud Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy

Read and Gain Advantage on All Wisdom Checks
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-118-92115-9
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten, E-Book

Reihe: The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series

Do demons and devils have free will? Does justice exist inMenzoberranzan? What's the morality involved with playercharacters casting necromancy and summoning spells?
Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy probes the richterrain of philosophically compelling concepts and ideas thatunderlie Dungeons & Dragons, the legendary fantasyrole-playing game that grew into a world-wide cultural phenomenon.A series of accessible essays reveals what the imaginary worlds ofD&D can teach us about ethics, morality, metaphysics andmore.
* Illustrates a wide variety of philosophical concepts and ideasthat arise in Dungeons & Dragons gameplay and presentsthem in an accessible and entertaining manner
* Reveals how the strategies, tactics, improvisations, androle-play employed by D&D enthusiasts have startlingparallels in the real world of philosophy
* Explores a wide range of philosophical topics, including thenature of free will, the metaphysics of personal identity, themorality of crafting fictions, sex and gender issues in tabletopgameplay, and friendship and collaborative storytelling
* Provides gamers with deep philosophical insights that can leadto a richer appreciation of D&D and any gamingexperience

Autoren/Hrsg.

Robichaud, Christopher

Weitere Mitwirkende

Irwin, William

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Abbreviations Used in the Text viii
Introduction: A Game Like No Other 1
Part I Lawful Good vs. Chaotic Evil 5
1 Sympathy for the Devils: Free Will and Dungeons & Dragons7
Greg Littmann
2 Paragons and Knaves: Does Good Character Make for a GoodCharacter? 23
J.K. Miles and Karington Hess
3 Is Anyone Actually Chaotic Evil?: A Playable Theory of WillfulWrongdoing 35
Neil Mussett
Part II So Did You Win? Philosophy and D&D Gameplay61
4 Save vs. Death: Some Reflections on the Lifecycle of PCs63
Christopher Robichaud
5 To My Other Self: Reflection and Existentialism in Dungeons& Dragons 72
Rob Crandall and Charles Taliaferro
6 Player-Character Is What You Are in the Dark: ThePhenomenology of Immersion in Dungeons & Dragons 82
William J. White
Part III Crafting Worlds 93
7 Imagination and Creation: The Morality of Fiction in Dungeons& Dragons 95
Robert A. Delfino and Jerome C. Hillock
8 Dungeonmastery as Soulcraft 106
Ben Dyer
Part IV Foray into the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance119
9 Menzoberranzan: A Perfect Unjust State 121
Matt Hummel
10 Who Is Raistlin Majere? 132
Kevin McCain
Part V The Ethics of Spellcasting 145
11 Expediency and Expendability: An Exhumation of the Moralityof Necromancy 147
Matthew Jones and Ashley Brown
12 By Friendship or Force: Is it Ethical to Summon Animals toFight by Your Side in Dungeons & Dragons? 163
Samantha Noll
Part VI Dungeons & Dragons out in the Real World173
13 "Kill her, kill her! Oh God, I'm sorry!":Spectating Dungeons & Dragons 175
Esther MacCallum-Stewart
14 Berserker in a Skirt: Sex and Gender in Dungeons &Dragons 189
Shannon M. Mussett
15 "Others play at dice": Friendship and Dungeons& Dragons 202
Jeffery L. Nicholas
Contributors 217
Index 223

Über Autor(innen)

Christopher Robichaud is Lecturer in Ethics and PublicPolicy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where heteaches moral philosophy, political philosophy, and socialepistemology. He has contributed to the Wiley Blackwell volumesBatman and Philosophy, Superman and Philosophy,Watchmen and Philosophy, X-Men and Philosophy,Heroes and Philosophy, Spider-Man and Philosophy, Iron Man andPhilosophy, Avengers and Philosophy, True Blood and Philosophy,and Game of Thrones and Philosophy.
William Irwin (series editor) is Professor of Philosophyat King's College. He originated the philosophy and popularculture genre of books as co-editor of the bestselling TheSimpsons and Philosophy and has overseen titles includingHouse and Philosophy, Batman and Philosophy, and SouthPark and Philosophy.