Russell D. Hamer

Journey is a game famous for its visuals and sound design, along with the emotional experience of playing. While the game eschews standard practices in video games, like having strategy, complex gameplay mechanics, or dialogue, it is nonetheless able to leave a deep impression on its players. This impression is due to a number of factors, but some of the big ones are the interplay between meaning, connection, and the sublime. In Journey, you play with other players who you can’t talk to as you wander around a desolate, yet beautiful, landscape. There is a massive mountain in the distance that you’re wandering towards, and so you and the other players that you encounter have a shared experience of the sublime. This experience creates connections with other players, despite your inability to talk to them or message them in any way. The game’s narrative is rather straightforward, but the storytelling, world-building, and overall game design are done in such a way that you cannot help but consider the problem of meaning. Your journey to the top of the mountain accomplishes nothing, yet you are compelled to do it over and over. By playing with these different themes, and weaving them into each other, Journey creates an unforgettable experience.

This chapter explores the ethics of Robert Daly's actions in the episode “USS Callister”. We consider issues of privacy that relate to him stealing his co‐workers DNA in order to scan them into the game, as well as the ethics of how he treats the digital avatars of his co‐workers within the game. Examining Daly's actions from a few different approaches, we argue that Daly's actions towards his co‐workers avatars are very likely immoral, though ultimately we cannot know without knowing Daly's thoughts. Finally, we end the chapter with some considerations relating to video games in general and the ways in which we must act when we play video games.

Many philosophy instructors want their students to change the way they think about and act in the world. Reflection can be one way to bring this about, yet it is common for student reflections to fail to enable this desired transformative learning experience. Our research investigated how instructors can design better reflective assignments to cultivate a more transformative learning experience for students. Using thematic analysis, a qualitative research method, we analyzed student reflection data to identify themes and patterns of student work. Findings include concrete guidelines for cultivating better student reflections, including: designing for reflection, explicitly limiting summary, and incentivizing students to make specific claims while bringing personal experience to bear.

Many philosophy instructors want their students to change the way they think about and act in the world. Reflection can be one way to bring this about, yet it is common for student reflections to fail to enable this desired transformative learning experience. Our research investigated how instructors can design better reflective assignments to cultivate a more transformative learning experience for students. Using thematic analysis, a qualitative research method, we analyzed student reflection data to identify themes and patterns of student work. Findings include concrete guidelines for cultivating better student reflections, including: designing for reflection, explicitly limiting summary, and incentivizing students to make specific claims while bringing personal experience to bear.