BioShock and Philosophy E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 315

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Considered a sign of the ‘coming of age’ of video games as an artistic medium, the award-winning BioShock franchise covers vast philosophical ground. BioShock and Philosophy: Irrational Game, Rational Book presents expert reflections by philosophers (and Bioshock connoisseurs) on this critically acclaimed and immersive fan-favorite.

• Reveals the philosophical questions raised through the artistic complexity, compelling characters and absorbing plots of this ground-breaking first-person shooter (FPS)
• Explores what BioShock teaches the gamer about gaming, and the aesthetics of video game storytelling
• Addresses a wide array of topics including Marxism, propaganda, human enhancement technologies, political decision-making, free will, morality, feminism, transworld individuality, and vending machines in the dystopian society of Rapture
• Considers visionary game developer Ken Levine’s depiction of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, as well as the theories of Aristotle, de Beauvoir, Dewey, Leibniz, Marx, Plato, and others from the Hall of Philosophical Heroes

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Title page

Hacking into This Book (Introduction)

Part I: LEVEL 1 RESEARCH BONUS

1

BioShock

’s Meta-Narrative

Mind Games

Rapture: How

BioShock

Hooks You

Horizons and Expectations in the Mid-Atlantic

The Meta-Narrative: Twisted Horizons

Gaming Freedom: Choosing or Obeying?

2 The Value of Art in

BioShock

Ayn Rand on Art, Ethics, and Choice

Horror Beneath the Waves

Why Randians Should Celebrate

BioShock

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the ADAM

3 SHODAN vs. the Many

“Remember Citadel”

“What is a Drop of Rain, Compared to the Storm?”

“Your Flesh is an Insult to the Perfection of the Digital”

“And Now They Seek to Destroy Me! I Will Not Allow That!”

“All You Have is Your Hatred and Your… Individuality”

“Remember, it is My Will That Guided You Here”

“Your Flesh, Too, is Weak. But You Have… Potential”

4 “The cage is somber”

“Danger: Do Not Speak to the Specimen”—Tower Sign

“Why did They Put Me in Here? What Am I? What Am I?”—Elizabeth

“I’m Out. It’s Hard to Believe, but it’s True, isn’t It?”—Elizabeth

“You Don’t Need to Protect Elizabeth in Combat. She Can Take Care of Herself”—Game Instructions

“My Days of Victimhood are Done”—Elizabeth

“Smother Him in the Crib”—Booker

Part II: TEARS, TIME, AND REALITY

5 Rapture in a Physical World

Physicalism, Ryan’s Putter, and Ghosts

Plasmids and Ghosts in a Physical World

The Smell of Poo and Ghosts

The Last Bit