The Art of Videogames
New Directions in Aesthetics
1. Edition October 2009
240 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
The Art of Videogames explores how philosophy of the arts
theories developed to address traditional art works can also be
applied to videogames.
* Presents a unique philosophical approach to the art of
videogaming, situating videogames in the framework of analytic
philosophy of the arts
* Explores how philosophical theories developed to address
traditional art works can also be applied to videogames
* Written for a broad audience of both philosophers and videogame
enthusiasts by a philosopher who is also an avid gamer
* Discusses the relationship between games and earlier artistic
and entertainment media, how videogames allow for interactive
fiction, the role of game narrative, and the moral status of
violent events depicted in videogame worlds
* Argues that videogames do indeed qualify as a new and exciting
form of representational art
2. What Are Videogames Anyway?
3. Videogames and Fiction
4. Stepping into Fictional Worlds
5. Games through Fiction
6. Videogames and Narrative
7. Emotion in Videogaming
8. The Morality of Videogames
9. Videogames as Art
Glossary
References
Index
engage intense, even obsessive attention. But are the
other-worldly, imaginative experiences videogames provide authentic
experiences of art? In this astute and compelling book, Grant
Tavinor shows how videogaming marks a genuine advance in the
history of artistic expression. No one interested in the future of
aesthetics can afford to ignore The Art of
Videogames."
-Denis Dutton, author of The Art Instinct: Beauty,
Pleasure, and Human Evolution
"Timely, sharp and thoroughly engaging. Equally informed by
philosophy and gameplay, Tavinor makes a compelling case that
game-designers would profit from engaging with philosophical
aesthetics and that philosophers who want to contribute to 21st
century aesthetics would do well to buy a PS3."
-Ian Ground, Senior Lecturer, University of
Sunderland
