Quote from: Black Vulmea;535080Or . . . maybe it just sounded like fun, and they thought others might get a kick out of it, too.

Seriously, Pundit, what makes you think you have anything at all worth saying about their motivations for this? Do you actually know any of the authors listed, either personally or by their work?

Exactly.  I don't think any of the authors is thinking, "Now that that essay that I wrote in my spare time, because I dig both Kant and D&D, has been published in Philosophy and D&D, I'm a profound intellectual!  Awesome!"

Without reading the book, i really have no opinion about its content. It doesn't bother me when folks do this sort of thing. I mean if someone wants to explore complex philosophical ideas by using D&D as a way to explain them, that might be kind of cool (a bit like Plato and a Platapus Walk into a Bar) but my initial expectation is they are probably going the other route of finding philoshical meaning in D&D itself (this is only a guess). If the later I have just tried to read too many other books that do similar things for other mediums to have any interest. The last time I tried to do this was when I read a book called the Philosophy of Horror, which succeeded in both missing the point of philosophy and horror in my opinion.

I suppose my only worry when I see stuff like this come out is will It it have any negative impact on gaming at my own table. So long as my players aren't showing up smoking pipes and exploring the existential angst of being an elf in a meaningless demiplane of despair, I am good.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;535224So long as my players aren't showing up smoking pipes and exploring the existential angst of being an elf in a meaningless demiplane of despair, I am good.

How dare you equate pipe smoking with storygaming swine angstery!  

"L'enfer c'est les figurines des autres"  Jean-Sol Partre

Quote from: This Guy;534701How does one distinguish between pseudo-intellectual wankery and the regular intellectual kind, anyway?

Regular intellectual wankery involves peer review.

Quote from: Premier;535242Regular intellectual wankery involves peer review.

Well-played, sir.

Quote from: Premier;535242Regular intellectual wankery involves peer review.

Well, there we go.

Quote from: Premier;535242Regular intellectual wankery involves peer review.

Sometimes absurd intellectual wankery can get through peer review, such as what happened in the Bogdanov affair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_Affair

There were even cases of fraudulent intellectual wankery which passed through peer review and got published in top journals.

One notorious case was Jan Hendrik Schoen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6n_scandal

Quote from: Black Vulmea;535080Or . . . maybe it just sounded like fun, and they thought others might get a kick out of it, too.

Seriously, Pundit, what makes you think you have anything at all worth saying about their motivations for this? Do you actually know any of the authors listed, either personally or by their work?

If their work involves "let's make ourselves sound totally profound by making ridiculous "deep thoughts"-style navel-gazing at a game about elves", then that's all anyone needs to know about their motivations right there.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Akrasia;535213:rolleyes:

Um, the essay titles include: "The Secret Lives of Elven Paladins" and "Kant on the Borderlands". You're attributing absurd motivations and beliefs to people whom you don't know, motivations and beliefs that are entirely implausible.

The fact that they use amusing article titles doesn't negate the fact that they claim to be taking the philosophy of it seriously. Or is this actually a total spoof book in the style of what the Harvard Lampoon might put out? Because if so, no one here on this thread has claimed that until now.
If not, then the book is about people trying to pretend they're really not just playing a game, they're doing something serious and meaningful with deep academic/intellectual/artistic ramifications. Which is a load of bullshit.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;535347If their work involves "let's make ourselves sound totally profound by making ridiculous "deep thoughts"-style navel-gazing at a game about elves", then that's all anyone needs to know about their motivations right there.

Way to circle the logic wagons, trailboss.

Quote from: RPGPundit;535349... the book is about people trying to pretend they're really not just playing a game, they're doing something serious and meaningful with deep academic/intellectual/artistic ramifications. Which is a load of bullshit.

*sigh*

Since I know a couple of people who have been involved with similar books, I can tell you that the authors simply are applying what they know about philosophy to reflect playfully, and in an intellectually-engaging way (or so they hope), on activities, books, etc., that they do not take seriously.

They're not claiming that playing D&D, watching the Colbert Report, or drinking single-malt whiskey are themselves 'deep' activities.  But they're using those activities as tools to think about or illuminate philosophical issues, in a fun way (or so they hope).  

Nobody is claiming that any of these books will be the next Critique of Pure Reason.  And nobody is trying to turn their D&D games into some kind of 'deep intellectual endeavour'.

Pathetically, you clearly misunderstand the whole point of these kinds of books, and you seem determined to attribute to the contributors absurd motivations. :pundit:

Quote from: Akrasia;535383*sigh*

Since I know a couple of people who have been involved with similar books, I can tell you that the authors simply are applying what they know about philosophy to reflect playfully, and in an intellectually-engaging way (or so they hope), on activities, books, etc., that they do not take seriously.

They're not claiming that playing D&D, watching the Colbert Report, or drinking single-malt whiskey are themselves 'deep' activities.  But they're using those activities as tools to think about or illuminate philosophical issues, in a fun way (or so they hope).  

Nobody is claiming that any of these books will be the next Critique of Pure Reason.  And nobody is trying to turn their D&D games into some kind of 'deep intellectual endeavour'.

Pathetically, you clearly misunderstand the whole point of these kinds of books, and you seem determined to attribute to the contributors absurd motivations. :pundit:

truly.  as posted before, there is quite the cottage industry (perhaps a few specific publishers) which do this "philosophy in pop culture" thing.  5 minutes in the philosophy section of a bookstore will show that :rolleyes:

Quote from: beeber;535386truly.  as posted before, there is quite the cottage industry (perhaps a few specific publishers) which do this "philosophy in pop culture" thing.  5 minutes in the philosophy section of a bookstore will show that :rolleyes:

The same thing can be said of some popular science books too.

For example, titles like "Physics of Star Trek", "Physics of Superheroes", etc ...