The question whether fictional violence and vice are morally acceptable is as old as philosophy itself. Current debates about the immorality of violent video games are the latest installment of this age-old problem. While most approaches to the ethics of gaming focus on applying standard ethical theories (deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics) to in-game violence, in this lecture we will take a step back and try to identity the many different senses in which games can be ethically relevant. This includes cases where games can be a source of moral knowledge and thus provide ethically enriching experiences for the players.
Join the Department of Theology and the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center for this talk and Q&A with bestselling author, philosopher, and gamer Sebastian Ostritsch, whose most recent book is Let's Play or Game Over? Playing – Killing – Loving: Good and Evil in Virtual Worlds.
This event is open to all Notre Dame students. Lunch will be provided.
Originally published at techethics.nd.edu.