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The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games book cover

1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games

Edited By C. Thi Nguyen, John R. Sageng Copyright 2025
422 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

422 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Playing games is a basic human activity, and games raise a great number of fascinating philosophical questions. What, exactly, are we doing when we play a game? What is the value of games for human life? What is the ontology of a game? And could games be, or someday become, a form of art? Comprising twenty-seven chapters by an international team of contributors,  The Routledge Handbook of... Read more

Introduction C. Thi Nguyen and John R. Sageng

Part 1: Introduction and Historical Foundations

1. What’s in a Game? Huizinga, Caillois and Conventional Behavior in Games Chad Carlson

2. Suits on Games and Their Value C. Thi Nguyen

3. Sport and Games - William Morgan

4. What is a Computer Game? Veli-Matti Karhulahti and John R. Sageng

Part 2: Game Ontology

5. Games as Rules Richard Royce

6. Cheating While Playing (and Cheating at Playing) A.J. Kreider

7. Existential ludology: Computer Games as Worlds Sebastian Möring and Olli Leino

8. Space in Computer Games Stephan Günzel

9. Simulations and Games Andreas Gregersen

10. Fiction and Narrative in Videogames Grant Tavinor

Part 3: Play and Players

11. Magic Circles and the Separateness of Play Jaakko Stenros

12. The Variable Nature of Play Annika Waern

13. The Body and Varieties of Play R. Scott Kretchmar

14. Avatarhood Rune Klevjer

Part 4: Aesthetics of Games

15. On Ludic Beauty: Kant, Schiller and the Aesthetics of Gameplay Daniel Vella

16. Game Immersion: The Experience of Virtual Environment Habitation Gordon Calleja

17. Analysing Interactivity and the Performative Actions of Games Shelby Moser

18. Hermeneutics of Play Jonne Arjoranta

19. Representation in Games Ida Jørgensen and Pawel Grabarzcyk

20. Aesthetics of Sport Andrew Edgar

Part 5: Ethics and Values of Games

21. Critical Theory and the Computer Game Graeme Kirkpatrick

22. Race and Gender in Games Stephanie Patridge

23. Representations of Violence in Games Christopher Bartel

24. Critical Overview of Technological Enhancement in sport Emily Ryall

25. Games, Rule Violations, and Fair Play Sigmund Loland

26. Playing a Good Life Miguel Sicart

27. Bernard Suits on the Value of Autotelic Gameplay Christopher C. Yorke.

Index

Biography

C. Thi Nguyen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah, USA. He works on aesthetics, social epistemology, games, trust and communities. His first book is Games: Agency as Art.

John R. Sageng is the coordinator of Game Philosophy Network, editor for the Journal of the Philosophy of Games and the editor for the volume The Philosophy of Computer Games.

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