Friday, 10 March 2023
Gamers will become philosophers for a night at a new event coming to Nottingham next week.
‘Hidden Role Games, Identity and Philosophy’ has been organised by philosophers from the University of Nottingham and it will take place at the Ludorati Boardgames Café on Monday evening. Players will take part in classic games, involving hidden identities, before discussing the philosophical issues they raise.
The success of the BBC hit reality show, ‘The Traitors’, demonstrates how popular hidden identity games are. The programme gave players secret roles so that they could have fun betraying each other and searching for ‘baddies’. But this type of game also raises important questions about identity. What is an identity? How can one person truly ‘know’ another? Why are lying, cheating and deception permissible in games but not in real life?
There is a huge amount of reflection on identity, roles and the paradoxes they raise, throughout the history of philosophy. I research Ancient Greek Philosophy, so at this event we’ll be talking about classic puzzles such as the ‘Veiled Man’ paradox and Plato’s Ring of Gyges thought experiment, as well as getting to experience some of these hidden identities through games!
The team hopes to run more events at Ludorati in the future”
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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