THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPUTER GAMES

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THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPUTER GAMES
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN OSLO 2009
August 13-15, 2009


Keynote speakers: Kendall Walton, author of "Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts" (Harvard University Press, 1990), Miguel Sicart, author of "The Ethics of Computer Games" (The MIT Press, 2009) and Grant Tavinor, author of "The Art of Video Games" (Wiley-Blackwell, forthcoming in October 2009).


CALL FOR PAPERS


We hereby invite scholars in any field who take a professional interest in the phenomenon of computer games to submit papers to the international conference "The Philosophy of Computer Games 2009", to be held in Oslo, Norway, on August 13-15, 2009.

Accepted papers will have a clear focus on philosophy and philosophical issues in relation to computer games. They will also attempt to use specific examples rather than merely invoke "computer games" in general terms. We invite submissions focusing on, but not limited to, the following three headings:

  • Fictionality and Interaction
Computer games are often conceived as a setting for fictional narratives, facts, objects and events, although the interactive setting is thought to give fictionality a special character and to be intertwined with non-fictional aspects in various ways. We invite papers on relevant discussions of fictionality, narrative, fictional objects, simulation, virtuality, and kindred cognitive notions like make-believe, pretense, and imagination.


  • Defining Computer Games
Is it possible to point to some defining characteristic(s) of computer games? We are especially interested in discussions of formal definitions of computer games in terms of characteristics such as rules, play, representation, computation, affordances, interaction, negotiable consequences, and so on. We welcome both constructive and critical discussions, as long as they are directed at clearly articulated proposals.

  • Ethical and Political Issues
What are the ethical responsibilities of game-makers in relation to individual gamers and society in general? What role, if any, can games serve as a critical cultural corrective in relation to traditional forms of media and communicative practices, for example in economy and politics? Also, what is the nature of the ethical norms that apply within the gaming context, and what are the factors that allow or delimit philosophical justifications of their application there or elsewhere?

Your abstract should not exceed 1000 words. If your submission falls under one of the three headings, please indicate which one. Send your abstract to submissions@gamephilosophy.org. All submitted abstracts will be subject to double blind peer review, and the program committee will
make a final selection of papers for the conference on the basis of this. Full manuscripts must be submitted by August 8, and will be made available on the conference website.

Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2009.
Notification of accepted submissions will be sent out by June 10, 2009.


Olav Asheim
Miguel Sicart
Frans Mäyrä
Patrick Coppock
Sten Ludvigsen
Ole Ertløv Hansen
Stephan Güntzel
Runje Klevjer
John Richard Sageng
Ragnhild Tronstad


The conference is a collaboration between the following institutions:

• Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo, Norway
• Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, Norway
• Digital Games Research Center, University of Potsdam, Germany
• Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Science at the University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy
• Nordic Game Research Network
• Intermedia, University of Oslo, Norway
• Games Research Lab, University of Tampere, Finland
• Center for Computer Games Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Philosophical Project Centre (FPS), Oslo, Norway
• Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway

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