Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy Part Two

Anarres Project

The popularity of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons has skyrocketed recently. Partly because of the COVID 19 pandemic and also because of the its prominent portrayal in the hit show "Stranger Things", more and more people have started to play this classic fantasy game where players imagine themselves as characters in far away mystical realms.

In this episode of Conversations on Anarres, we continue our discussion with two philosophers who are fans of Dungeons and Dragons. Both of them grew up playing the game, but in recent years they have started to reflect on the potential that the game has for developing philosophical skills, civic capacities, and imaginative abilities. We meet Dr. Terrance MacMullan, who teaches philosophy at Eastern Washington University, and Dr. Albert "Randy" Spencer who teaches philosophy at Portland State University.

In this part two, we talk about the specific philosophical lessons they think we can learn from Dungeons and Dragons. Dr. Spencer talks about the connections he sees between Dungeons and Dragons and the work of Michel Foucault, on the "technologies of the self". Dr. MacMullan encourages us to think about the game and the work of John Dewey in encouraging cooperation in democratic spaces. We then talk about ways in which the habits of role playing might be used to confront political authoritarianism, while at the same time recognizing that role playing might be behind the prevalence of conspiracy thinking today.

Music for the episode: Omega by Scott Buckley https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyCr... Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/omega-scott-buckleyMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ZRBsgI8PD1Y

Cover Image: Image by upklyak on Freepik