Update on the network

[John R. Sageng]

Dear all

Due to the covid situation it has been silent in the game philosophy project for a long time. I’d like to give a short update about the present status for the network.

Normally, we would at this point be preparing for a new conference, but unless someone here takes responsibility for initiating a new one, this is not going to be the first task on the list. Speaking for myself, the highest priority this autumn is to get the handbook submitted to the publisher by the end of the year.

Last year we started the discussion about how to get the project on financially firmer grounds. We talked about applying for funding for a COST-network, as well as looking at other opportunities for relevant funding. One problem is that we have no institution that can host such a proposal, so I haven’t been able to do anything more about it. Even though we should create an independent society (similar to the “The Norwegian Kant Society”), I’m not sure how realistic it is to submit a EU-proposal on behalf of such a society.

I have discovered, however, that there is one opportunity that we can pursue right away. It is possible to apply for funding for preparations for such an application from the Norwegian Research Council. It might not be so difficult to get such a grant, and it would make it possible to make an open call for a common meeting in e.g. Berlin to start off work with the main application. Anita is currently contacting her department leader to check if they will support such a start up initiative. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

In addition, Rune is taking the initiative to submit a research proposal in game philosophy early next year and will start the preparations this autumn.

Apart from such efforts, which may take forever to bear fruits, I feel we need to get new activities started without waiting for funding.

You may recall the scheme that we have discussed earlier: My idea is that we should organize seminars on specific topics around groups of people that have an interest in a particular issue. The seminars should be specifically aimed at producing journal papers, especially for JPG. This will allow us to e.g. actively reach out to groups that the conferences don’t work well for, like e.g. Center of Subjectivity Research in Denmark, Markus Rautzenberg in Germany, Meskin/Robson/BSA, the technology philosophers in Twente and so on. They can also be used to create in-depth discussion on emerging issues, like ludic subjectivity, immersion, existentialism, hermeneutics, agential forms, representation etc.

To get a suitable focus, I imagine these to be two-stage events: First a meeting to present ideas for papers and to establish a shared understanding of the relevant problems and literature. Secondly, a proper paper seminar with mutual feedback.

Anita, Rune and I are planning a trial meeting based on perception in games. Below is the call that we are working on right now, and that will be out shortly. It is more open than the vision I just outlined, but we have to start somewhere.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zLMA-zk6tqxwUf5oTiNziDpEn1bOgJwsQs_WtTWimSY/edit

The next issue of JPG should be out by the end of this month. The last two papers are in the late production phase.

Best,

John

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