Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful

Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful

Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful

ByJohn Sharp and David Thomas

Abstract

“Many people (we series editors included) find video gamesexhilarating, but it can be just as interesting to ponder why that is so.What do video games do? What can they be used for? How do theywork? How do they relate to the rest of the world? Why is play bothso important and so powerful?Playful Thinking is a series of short, readable, and argumentativebooks that share some playfulness and excitement with the gamesthat they are about. Each book in the series is small enough to fit ina backpack or coat pocket, and combines depth with readability forany reader interested in playing more thoughtfully or thinking moreplayfully. This includes, but is by no means limited to, academics,game makers, and curious players.So, we are casting our net wide. Each book in our series providesa blend of new insights and interesting arguments with overviews ofknowledge from game studies and other areas. You will see thisreflected not just in the range of titles in our series, but in the rangeof authors creating them. Our basic assumption is simple: videogames are such a flourishing medium that any new perspective onthem is likely to show us something unseen or forgotten, includingthose from such unconventional voices as artists, philosophers, or

specialists in other industries or fields of study. These books arebridge builders, cross-pollinating both areas with new knowledge andnew ways of thinking.At its heart, this is what Playful Thinking is all about: new ways ofthinking about games and new ways of using games to think aboutthe rest of the world.”

Reference

Sharp, J., &; Thomas, D. (2021). Fun, taste, & games: An aesthetics of the idle, unproductive, and otherwise playful. Critical Inquiry, 47(3), 616-617. doi:10.1086/713546 https://philpapers.org/rec/MCDJSA-3

Keyword

Games, playful, skills, agility, educators, students, research