Objections to Ostritsch’s argument in “The amoralist challenge to gaming and the gamer’s moral obligation”

Ethics and Information Technology 19 (3):209-219 (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper raises three objections to the argument presented by Ostritsch in The amoralist challenge to gaming and the gamer’s moral obligation, in which the amoralist’s mantra “it’s just a game” is viewed as an illegitimate rebuttal of all moral objections to video games. The first objection focuses on Ostritsch’s ‘strong sense’ of player enjoyment, which I argue is too crude, given the moral work it is meant to be doing. Next, I question the legitimacy of Ostritsch’s claim that certain video games are immoral. I examine what is involved in making this claim and what would be required for a normative position to be established: none of which is addressed by Ostritsch. Finally, I challenge the legitimacy of his claim that players are obliged not to play certain video games in certain ways. I distinguish between immoral and suberogatory actions, arguing that the latter is in fact more applicable to cases Ostritsch has in mind, and that one is not obliged not to engage in these actions.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Why Physicians Ought to Lie for Their Patients.Nicolas Tavaglione & Samia Hurst - 2012 - American Journal of Bioethics 12 (3):4-12.
The Amoralist Objection and the Method of Moral Reasoning.Matej Sušnik - 2009 - Croatian Journal of Philosophy 9 (1):91-100.
The incorrigible social meaning of video game imagery.Stephanie Patridge - 2010 - Ethics and Information Technology 13 (4):303-312.
Arguing forever? Or: Two tiers of argument appraisal.Trudy Govier - 1997 - In H. V. Hansen, C. W. Tindale & A. V. Colman (eds.), Argumentation and Rhetoric. Vale.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-10-25

Downloads
38 (#365,633)

6 months
3 (#447,120)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Garry Young
University of Melbourne

References found in this work

The emotional construction of morals.Jesse J. Prinz - 2007 - New York: Oxford University Press.
The suberogatory.Julia Driver - 1992 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 70 (3):286 – 295.
The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction.Wayne C. Booth - 1988 - University of California Press.
A new solution to the gamer’s dilemma.Rami Ali - 2015 - Ethics and Information Technology 17 (4):267-274.

View all 18 references / Add more references