Description

“Role-playing games provide a particularly fruitful environment for the development of critical, ethical reasoning skills, a core component in developing a citizenry capable of fully participating
in a cosmopolitan, democratic society.” (Simkins- abstract 2008)

For your game analysis you’ll spend time in a role-playing game. To start, discuss the overall context of your game. What is its ethical framework? What is the ultimate goal? You can provide a
brief synopsis of the game story if needed.

You’ll discuss 2 major commands given to you within the game.

From your commands (imperatives) you will author (and refine) a maxim. Be careful here. There may be “nested” imperatives. You’ll need to author a maxim for each imperative contained within the
command. No need to go beyond 2 nested. 2 commands + 2 nested each= 8 charts.

Create a flowchart to illustrate the maxim authoring process (see pgs. 283 and 284 of Devine et. al)

Write out the maxim(s) as a conditional expression (see page 285 of Devine et. al). “When I am in circumstance x, then I must do actions y, if I want to reach goal z.”

Now, filter your maxim through the Categorical Imperative, using the Universal Law of Nature formulation or whatever filtration best suits your situations.
I am Male please make it a masculine game.
Finally, fully discuss “games as art” and game designer as moral teacher. It’s important that your discussion be full and robust. 1-2 pages at least. Does your game qualify as art (based on
parameters in article). How might a game designer step into the role of moral teacher? Etc.

Try not to go beyond 10 pages. I recognize that you’ll need space for the charts.

the elements of moral philosophy by James Rachael is the text we use in class