•  67
    This book explores what it means to exist in virtual worlds. Chiefly drawing on the philosophical traditions of existentialism, it articulates the idea that — by means of our technical equipment and coordinated practices — human beings disclose contexts or worlds in which they can perceive, feel, act, and think. More specifically, this book discusses how virtual worlds allow human beings to take new perspectives on their values and beliefs, and explore previously unexperienced ways of being. Vir…Read more
  •  469
    Existential Ludology and Peter Wessel Zapffe
    In Victor Navarro-Remesal & Oliver Perez-Latorre (eds.), Perspectives on the European Videogame, Amsterdam University Press. pp. 175-192. 2021.
    A relatively common approach in game studies understands gameworlds as constituting an existential situation for the player. Taking that stance, which is rooted in the European philosophical tradition of Existentialism, in this chapter we investigate the relationships and similarities between our existence within and without gameworlds. To do so, we first provide a review of existing literature in ‘existential ludology’ - work in game studies which considers our engagement with gameworlds from a…Read more
  •  18
    Beyond agency: games as the aesthetics of being
    Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 48 (3): 436-447. 2021.
    In digital game studies, approaches to the aesthetics of games have primarily focused on games’ narrative or sensory qualities, considered the status of games as em...
  •  895
    There's No Place Like Home: Dwelling and Being at Home in Digital Games
    In Espen Aarseth & Stephan Günzel (eds.), Ludotopia: Spaces, Places, and Territories in Computer Games, Transcript Verlag, Roswitha Gost, Sigrid Nokel U. Dr. Karin Werner. pp. 141-166. 2019.
    This chapter considers the presence, in digital games, of experiences of dwelling. Starting with an engagement with the philosopher Edward S. Casey's distinction between hestial and hermetic spatial modes, the chapter argues that the player's spatial engagement with digital game worlds has tended to align with the hermetic pole, emphasizing movement, traversal and exploration. By contrast, hestial spatial practices, characterized by centrality, lingering and return, are far less prevalent both i…Read more
  •  784
    Virtual Subjectivity: Existence and Projectuality in Virtual Worlds
    Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 23 (2): 115-136. 2019.
    This paper draws on the notion of the ‘project,’ as developed in the existential philosophy of Heidegger and Sartre, to articulate an understanding of the existential structure of engagement with virtual worlds. By this philosophical understanding, the individual’s orientation towards a project structures a mechanism of self-determination, meaning that the project is understood essentially as the project to make oneself into a certain kind of being. Drawing on existing research from an existenti…Read more