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Videogames aren't art by the Schopenhauerian definition of the word
Someone tell Icycalm.
Comments
...could you explain what the Schopenhauerian definition of art is, and why videogames do not fit into that?
(And, in general, start threads with something that people can discuss easily without previously-acquired knowledge of what you're talking about?)
Art is art because it causes the suspension of will.
You have to excert your will to play a videogame.
QED Videogames are nor art by the standards of one of Icycalm's favorite philosophers.
...wouldn't that, oddly enough, make very linear JRPGs and visual novels more art than platformers and sandbox games?
I suppose it would!
Why does Schopenhauer define art as the suspension of will?
this might be useful, glenn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer's_aesthetics
You suspend a certain amount of your will by submitting to game mechanics. Thus, the game itself is art, cheating isn't.
That's disguting, the will is the most beautiful thing humans have!
While will is not evil as Schopenhauer posits, i certainly agree with him that things would be quite better and easier if there was no such thing as free will and a world that demands people to exercise it. But it is what it is, so weeping and moping about it seems like a waste of your time when you can use it in a way that benefits you.
Either way, Schopenhauer says that art helps towards the suspension of the will (Which as mentioned above, he considers evil) So, basically, what he's saying is that games work as escapism from this sad world in which we have to exercise our free will. Songs always start and end the same way, movies do the same, etc.
The thing is, though, while it's true that there are games that allow you to determine the ending and so on, you can't do it to the degree real life allows you to, and chances are, you're going to do things in a game that you wouldn't do in real life.
Easier? Sure. But where would the fun be? The random and unknown element of the free will of other agents is what makes life worth it.
Good on you, buddy.
But just as much as games have mechanics, the universe has its own laws, and you are required to submit to those.