Taking Politics Seriously - but Not Too Seriously

John Rawls’ gamification of justice leads him – along with many other monist political philosophers, not least Ronald Dworkin – to fail to take politics seriously enough. I begin with why we consider games frivolous and then show how Rawls’ theory of justice is not merely analogous to a game, as he himself seems to claim, but is in fact a kind of game. As such, it is harmful to political practice in two ways: one as regards the citizens who participate directly in it, and the other as regards those who do no more than follow it. Similar harms, I then argue, come from taking politics too seriously, which is the attitude I ascribe to pluralist political philosophers such as Isaiah Berlin, Stuart Hampshire, and Bernard Williams. To them, the plural, incommensurable nature of values means that they cannot be reconciled and so that politics must be a matter of negotiating dirty, and often tragic, compromises. What we need instead, I conclude, is a third way, one that is neither monist nor pluralist but in-between the two extremes

Voluntary vs Compulsory Playing Contexts: Motivational, Cognitive, and Game Experience Effects

Background. Serious games are often used in formal school contexts, in which students’ lack of control over the playing situation may have repercussions on any motivational gains.Aims and Method. The first aim was to investigate to what extent n = 579 fifth grade students in Mexico who received a mathematics serious game played it voluntarily. Then, we explored how students who played voluntarily (n = 337) differed from those who did not by either gender or pre-test mathematical skills or motivation. The second aim was to find out whether two play contexts, the group of voluntary players and a second group consisting of students playing at school as a compulsory part of their regular mathematics lessons (n = 482), differed in game experience, game performance, and cognitive and motivational outcomes.Results. Students from the volunteer group who played had higher pre-test mathematical skills and math interest than those who did not play. Students in this group did not otherwise differ. Compared to students from the volunteer group who played, students in the school group played for longer, completed more tasks, and enjoyed playing the game more. However, their advanced mathematical skills did not improve as much.Conclusion. Motivation did not improve regardless of play context, suggesting serious games should be implemented for their learning content rather than because they are assumed to be motivating.</p

Volunteers and volunteering in leisure : social science perspectives

Leisure has been widely examined within the context of social science theory; however, little work has considered the range of social science disciplines and applied them to specific phenomena located within the leisure field. This paper adopts such an approach to conceptualise and examine volunteers and volunteering in leisure settings. In a disciplinary sense, therefore, the sociological view focuses upon the conceptualisation of volunteering as leisure, the psychological view seeks to understand motivations driving volunteering while the perspective of economists tends to complement these standpoints in terms of why people volunteer and further examines the value of volunteer contributions. Comparative analysis of the perspectives enunciated within these key disciplines provides a picture of the status of research relating to leisure volunteers and volunteering. The purposes of this paper are to identify gaps in current knowledge, drawing out conclusions and their implications for an improved understanding of this area as well as to enhance comprehension of disciplinary contributions to the study of leisure phenomena

Ambassadors of the game: do famous athletes have special obligations to act virtuously?

Do famous athletes have special obligations to act virtuously? A number of philosophers have investigated this question by examining whether famous athletes are subject to special role model obligations (Wellman 2003; Feezel 2005; Spurgin 2012). In this paper we will take a different approach and give a positive response to this question by arguing for the position that sport and gaming celebrities are ‘ambassadors of the game’: moral agents whose vocations as rule-followers have unique implications for their non-lusory lives. According to this idea, the actions of a game’s players and other stakeholders—especially the actions of its stars—directly affect the value of the game itself, a fact which generates additional moral reasons to behave in a virtuous manner. We will begin by explaining the three main positions one may take with respect to the question: moral exceptionalism, moral generalism, and moral exemplarism. We will argue that no convincing case for moral exemplarism has thus far been made, which gives us reason to look for new ways to defend this position. We then provide our own ‘ambassadors of the game’ account and argue that it gives us good reason to think that sport and game celebrities are subject to special obligations to act virtuously

Volunteers and mega sporting events : developing a research framework

Interest in all aspects of the politics, financing, planning, management and operation of mega sporting events has been highlighted both by success stories and ongoing problems associated with Olympic Games, Football World Cups and other similar events. There is a growing literature that addresses these and related matters through both case history and comparative analyses. Within the context of mega sporting events, the issue of employment creation is an important motivator for host cities and features high on the political justification agenda for bids to host events. At the same time, the most significant working contribution to major mega events in sports, as in other areas, is provided by the very large numbers of volunteers who undertake tasks across the range of opportunities afforded by such events. Numbers of volunteers between 40,000 and 60,000 have been noted for some recent major events. Relatively little is known about these volunteers at mega sporting events and yet their contribution and wider impact is very significant, both to the events themselves and within the host community. This paper seeks to identify the evident gaps that exist in understanding areas such as what volunteers do at mega sporting events; who they are; what motivates them; how volunteering impacts upon their lives; what associated activities they do surrounding the event in the host city; and the extent to which volunteering is recidivistic. The paper concludes with the presentation of a tentative research framework agenda in order to guide future study of this important area

Rating the Suitability of Responsible Gambling Features for Specific Game Types: A Resource for Optimizing Responsible Gambling Strategy

A Delphi based study, rated the perceived effectiveness of 45 responsible gambling (RG) features in relation to 20 distinct gambling type games. Participants were 61 raters from seven countries,including responsible gambling experts (n = 22), treatment providers (n = 19) and recovered problem gamblers (n = 20). The most highly recommended RG features could be divided into three groups 1) Player initiated tools focused on aiding player’s behaviour 2) RG features related to informed-player-choice 3) RG features focused on gaming company actions. Overall, player control over personal limits were favoured more than gaming company controlled limits, although mandatory use of such features was often recommended. The study found that recommended RG features varied considerably between game types, according to their structural characteristics. Also,online games had the possibility to provide many more RG features than traditional (offline games). The findings draw together knowledge about the effectiveness of RG features for specific game types. This should aid objective, cost-effective, evidence based decisions on which RG features toi nclude in an RG strategy, according to a specific portfolio of games. The findings of this study will be available via a web-based tool, known as the Responsible Gambling Knowledge Centre (RGKC)

Mobile exergaming in adolescents’ everyday life—contextual design of where, when, with whom, and how: the SmartLife case

Exergames, more specifically console-based exergames, are generally enjoyed by adolescents and known to increase physical activity. Nevertheless, they have a reduced usage over time and demonstrate little effectiveness over the long term. In order to increase playing time, mobile exergames may increase potential playing time, but need to be engaging and integrated in everyday life. The goal of the present study was to examine the context of gameplay for mobile exergaming in adolescents&rsquo; everyday life to inform game design and the integration of gameplay into everyday life. Eight focus groups were conducted with 49 Flemish adolescents (11 to 17 years of age). The focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by means of thematic analysis via Nvivo 11 software (QSR International Pty Ltd., Victoria, Australia). The adolescents indicated leisure time and travel time to and from school as suitable timeframes for playing a mobile exergame. Outdoor gameplay should be restricted to the personal living environment of adolescents. Besides outdoor locations, the game should also be adaptable to at-home activities. Activities could vary from running outside to fitness exercises inside. Furthermore, the social context of the game was important, e.g., playing in teams or meeting at (virtual) meeting points. Physical activity tracking via smart clothing was identified as a motivator for gameplay. By means of this study, game developers may be better equipped to develop mobile exergames that embed gameplay in adolescents&rsquo; everyday life