Moral Law

What is the moral law and what role does it and should it play in political theory and political practice? In this entry we will try to answer these important questions by first examining what the moral law is, before investigating the different ways in which the relationship between morality and politics can be conceptualize

Four Lenses for Designing Morally Engaging Games

Historically the focus of moral decision-making in games has been narrow, mostly confined to challenges of moral judgement (deciding right and wrong). In this paper, we look to moral psychology to get a broader view of the skills involved in ethical behaviour and how they may be employed in games. Following the Four Component Model of Rest and colleagues, we identify four “lenses” – perspectives for considering moral gameplay in terms of focus, sensitivity, judgement and action – and describe the design problems raised by each. To conclude, we analyse two recent games, The Walking Dead and Papers, Please, and show how the lenses give us insight into important design differences between them

Morality Play: A Model for Developing Games of Moral Expertise

According to cognitive psychologists, moral decision-making is a dual-process phenomenon involving two types of cognitive processes: explicit reasoning and implicit intuition. Moral development involves training and integrating both types of cognitive processes through a mix of instruction, practice, and reflection. Serious games are an ideal platform for this kind of moral training, as they provide safe spaces for exploring difficult moral problems and practicing the skills necessary to resolve them. In this article, we present Morality Play, a model for the design of serious games for ethical expertise development based on the Integrative Ethical Education framework from moral psychology and the Lens of the Toy model for serious game design

Papers, Please and the systemic approach to engaging ethical expertise in videogames

Papers, Please, by Lucas Pope (2013), explores the story of a customs inspector in the fictional political regime of Arstotzka. In this paper we explore the stories, systems and moral themes of Papers, Please in order to illustrate the systemic approach to designing videogames for moral engagement. Next, drawing on the Four Component model of ethical expertise from moral psychology, we contrast this systemic approach with the more common scripted approach. We conclude by demonstrating the different strengths and weaknesses that these two approaches have when it comes to designing videogames that engage the different aspects of a player’s moral expertise

Playing Around With Morality: Introducing the Special Issue on “Morality Play”

This special issue of Games and Culture focuses on the intersection between video games and ethics. This introduction briefly sets out the key research questions in the research field and identifies trends in the articles included in this special issu

Focus, Sensitivity, Judgement, Action: Four Lenses for Designing Morally Engaging Games

Historically the focus of moral decision-making in games has been narrow, mostly confined to challenges of moral judgement (deciding right and wrong). In this paper, we look to moral psychology to get a broader view of the skills involved in ethical behaviour and how these skills can be employed in games. Following the Four Component Model of Rest and colleagues, we identify four “lenses” – perspectives for considering moral gameplay in terms of focus, sensitivity, judgement and action – and describe the design problems raised by each. To conclude, we analyse two recent games, The Walking Dead and Papers, Please, and show how the lenses give us insight into important design differences between these games

Thinking, Willing, and Judging

In this paper I examine Max Deutscher’s recent accounts of thinking, willing and judging, derived from his reading of Hannah Arendt’s 'The Life of the Mind', as set out in his book 'Judgment After Arendt'. Against Deutscher I argue that thinking does not presuppose thoughtfulness, that being willing is compatible with willing reluctantly, and that actor and spectator judgments are distinct types of judgments

A Life without Affects and Passions: Kant on the Duty of Apathy

An apathetic life is not the sort of life that most of us would want for ourselves or believe that we have a duty to strive for. And yet Kant argues that we have a duty of apathy, a duty to strive to be without affects (Affecten) and passions (Leidenschaften). But is Kant’s claim that there is a duty of apathy really as problematic as it sounds? In arguing that it is not, this paper investigates in detail in Kant’s accounts of affects and passions and defends Kant’s argument that we have a duty of apathy. This investigation reveals Kant’s nuanced view on the role that sensible motivating states play in moral agency and the development of a virtuous character

Modernised Policy Making? Investigating the Development of the 2009 Migration Impact Fund

This thesis investigates the nature and effectiveness of the New Labour government’s attempt to modernise policy making in Britain. This government had developed and sought to implement a new concept of modernised policymaking, claiming that it represented a significant advance on previous efforts to transform policymaking. The principles, logic and ambition of this new form of modernised policymaking were set out clearly in a number of government publications (Cabinet Office, 1999a; Cabinet Office, 1999b). The objectives of this study are, firstly, to explore and assess the nature of this new concept of policy making, contextualising its claims by reference to the long history of debates about policy-making and modernisation in Britain. Secondly, it will investigate the use of this new form of policy making through a case study. The data collected will be subjected to a detailed analysis to assess the extent to which the development of the 2009 Migration Impact Fund constituted an example of modernised policy making, as conceived by the New Labour government. The ideas contained in the Asymmetrical Power model advanced by Marsh (2003) are used to inform the understanding of the policy setting in which the case occurred. To construct the case study, multiple methods of data collection are used to form a thick narrative that covers a five-year period. This narrative begins with the policy making that took place in anticipation of new migration in the lead up to the enactment of the 2003 Treaty of Accession and culminates in an explanation of how the 2009 Migration Impact Fund was designed and implemented. The case study is then subjected to a detailed analysis designed to generate precise data about the extent to which the nine features of modernised policy making are present; how modernised policy making presents at different points in the case; the extent to which the features of modernised policy making operated synergistically; and the different explanations for the policy making that was observed in the case study. These are used to then come to a statement as to whether policy making in this case was completely modernised; significantly modernised; not particularly modernised; or not modernised. The investigation found that policy making in this case was not particularly modernised. This was so because although all elements of modernised policy making was observed to be consistently present throughout the case, directive and bargaining based policy making were predominant at all crucial points rather than modernised policy making. The investigation showed that policy making operated, for better or worse, in a traditional way with core government’s commitment to increased labour mobility around Europe shaping the response of policy makers. As well, the investigation raised questions about how we may research and come to understand the impact of modernisation reforms when looking at policy making with a high level of detail. This is because the modernised policy making observed was not identified to be a direct result of the Modernising Government reforms, something that calls for further research to better ascertain the basis of choices made by policy makers. Overall, the case study findings confirm the predominant conclusions about New Labour’s efforts to modernise policy making (see for example Massey & Pyper, 2005; Newman, 2005). This is that there was a distinct gap between the rhetoric and practice of policymaking in this period which fundamentally served to continue the advance of business orientated approaches to public administration within the traditional political context of British policy making