Description
Philosophical Perspectives on Play builds on the disciplinary and paradigmatic bridges constructed between the study of philosophy and play in The Philosophy of Play (Routledge, 2013) to develop a richer understanding of the concept and nature of play and its relation to human life and value. Made up of contributions from leading international thinkers and inviting readers to explore the presumptions often attached to play and playfulness, the book considers ways that play in ‘virtual’ and ‘real’ worlds can inform understandings of each, critiquing established norms and encouraging scepticism about the practice and experience of play.
Organised around four central themes -- play(ing) at the limits, aesthetics, metaphysics/ontology and ethics -- the book extends and challenges notions of play by drawing on issues emerging in sport, gaming, literature, space and art, with specific attention paid to disruption and danger. It is intended to provide scholars and practitioners working in the spheres of play, education, games, sport and related subjects with a deeper understanding of philosophical thought and to open dialogue across these disciplines.
Table of Contents
Introduction Part 1: Playing at the limits 1. Exile and utopia as Liminal Play: A Cultural-Theoretical Approach (Mihai Spariosu) 2. Playing war – playing with fire; Dark games (Henning Eichberg) 3. Games and evil (Carl Mildenberger) 4. Posthuman nature: Life beyond the playground (Stuart Lester) Part 2: Play, aesthetics and performance 5. A disavowal of games (Chris Bateman) 6. Lessons in playing: Robert Morris’ Bodyspacemotionthings 2009 as a biopolitical environment (Tim Stott) 7. Oasis of happiness: The play of the world and human existence. Eugene Fink’s multidimensional concept of play (Núria Sara Miras Boronat) 8. Homer and competitive play (Daniel A Dombrowski) Part 3: Metaphysics and ontology 9. Homo Ludens in the 21st century: Towards an understanding of Caillois’ paidia in sports (Imara Felkers, Ellen Mulder and Malcolm MacLean) 10. Locating rhythms: Improvised play in the built environment (Dani Abulhawa) 11. Weltentzug und weltzerfall (world-withdrawal and world-decay): Heidegger’s notions of withdrawal from the world and the decays of worlds in the times of computer games (Mathias Fuchs) 12. The paradox of rules and freedom: Art and life in the simile of play (Damla Dömez) Part 4: Ethics of work in play and play in work 13. Philosophy, play and ethics in education (Sandra Lynch) 14. Entangled in the midst of it: A diffractive expression of an ethics for playwork (Wendy Russell) 15. "Excess is the key": Community, flow and the play of control in the picture books of Thomas King (Helene Staveley)
