Exploring ethics and morality in choice-driven videogames

Abstract

Since the late twentieth century we underwent a mediatic turn whereby technologies, specifically the development of the computer, has become a focal area of discussion. The virtual realm has opened a portal for the exploration of philosophical concepts and their analysis regarding the context. Videogames offer a learning experience along with an understanding of the self in terms of morality. The digital storyline consisting of a moral choice system gives the player the opportunity to take thought experiments or theoretical insights from ethical concepts and apply them in another dimension. A passion for videogames and philosophy has motivated me to want to seek the understanding of how ethics is becoming a prevailing theme in the digital world of games. In this dissertation, I discuss how ethical concepts and theories such as Virtue Ethics, Moral Duty, Utilitarianism and the theory of the Butterfly effect are incorporated into these interactive narratives. Thus, this research concerns games from the genre consisting of choice driven storylines or games having a moral choice system. Initially, the stimulus for this discussion was through a philosophy related video made by an MA graduate in Philosophy, which speculated on morality and videogames. Later on I came across the philosophical analysis of virtual worlds through Stefano Gualeni’s work in Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools. Consequently, the purpose of this work is to attempt to demonstrate how gaming platforms can not only bring out an understanding of the identity of the player through moral choices, but also give the player the opportunity to examine different outcomes by being able to replay events in virtual environments with different choices and how that might give the player an insight on personal morality. In view of the recent addition of Ethics Education as a discipline in our schools, this work is expected to provide an alternative, perhaps more entertaining, way of exploring ethics and morality.