Virtually Human: Philosophizing Through Games and Virtual Worlds

The Molloy University Philosophy Department and New Media Department is proud to announce our conference, “Virtually Human: Philosophizing through Games and Virtual Worlds,” taking place on our campus in Rockville Centre, NY, on April 21-22nd, 2023.  This interdisciplinary conference features papers from philosophy as well as game studies. The conference will include participation from undergraduates and be open to the public, so papers are encouraged to avoid excessive philosophical jargon and to be accessible to the educated layperson.  We will feature traditional academic papers, roundtable discussions, panels, and interactive workshops. 

Video games and VR primarily function as entertainment but they are also vehicles for expressing aspects of culture, including philosophical concepts and moral norms. While pop culture functions as a powerful medium for exploring philosophical ideas in the contemporary world, the gameplay format offers an interactive experience in which players are not just spectators, but themselves contribute to the stories that are told. We invite papers and panels that expand on these themes and the importance of games and virtual worlds as tools for philosophical exploration.