Game rules and morality

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Joyce H. Weiblen (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Celeste Ulrich

Abstract: This study investigated the premise that game rules can be used as instruments for teaching morality. Gowin's philosophic method of inquiry was utilized. It consists of the development of major hypotheses and their attendent sub-hypotheses. Major hypotheses were developed concerning the concept of morality, the nature of moral rules, the essence of games, the nature of game rules, the relationship of moral rules to game rules, and the use of games as a vehicle for teaching morality. Concepts which emerged as a result of investigating the hypotheses suggested that all cultures have games and systems of morality of which rules are an essential part. However, game rules and moral rules are not philosophically congruent in either the play domain or the real world. Evidence suggested instead, that moral rules are analogous to implicit game rules, that morality is analogous to the spirit of the game, and that official game rules are congruent with real life laws. Although the official rules were not found to be the instruments through which games could be used to teach morality, games do contain moral elements in the form of implicit rules. It was therefore concluded that games could be instruments for teaching morality

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1972
Subjects
Games $v Rules $x Moral and ethical aspects
Games $x Moral and ethical aspects

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