Stefano Gualeni

Base

Country

Malta
Institutional affiliation

Institute of Digital Games – University of Malta
Title

Full Professor
Research interests relevant to game philosophy

My academic work takes place at the intersections of continental philosophy and the design of virtual worlds.
Given the practical and interdisciplinary focus of my research – and depending on the topics and the resources at hand – my output takes the form of academic texts and/or of interactive digital experiences. As a philosopher who designs digital games and a game designer who is passionate about philosophy, I study virtual worlds in their role as mediators: as interactive, artificial environments where ideas, world-views, and thought-experiments can be encountered, manipulated, and communicated experientially.

Most of my academic output looks at virtual worlds as instruments to prefigure and design ourselves and our worlds, and as gateways to experience alternative possibilities of being.
Publications and presentations relevant to game philosophy

Monographs:

■ Gualeni, S. (2024, forthcoming), Il Videogioco del mondo: Istruzioni per l’uso. Palermo, Italy: Time0.

■ Gualeni, S. (2023), The Clouds: An Experiment in Theory-Fiction. New York, NY: Routledge.

■ Gualeni, S. & Fassone, R. (2022), Fictional Games: A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

■ Gualeni, S. & Vella, D. (2020), Virtual Existentialism: Meaning and Subjectivity in Virtual Worlds. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

■ Gualeni, S. (2015), Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools: How to Philosophize with a Digital Hammer. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

For the complete list of my academic works, please check http://www.gua-le-ni.com/papers
Keywords

Philosophy of Technology, Heidegger, Existentialism, Virtual Worlds research, Game Design
Personal links

http://gua-le-ni.com
https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/stefanogualeni
Name

Stefano Gualeni
Background

Game Design, Virtual Worlds Research, Existentialism, Game Studies, Science-Fiction, the Philosophy of Technology