Course Description:
Every human civilization and culture have something like sports and games. What does that tell us about the role that sports and games have in being human? Their role in civilization and society? Who are we when we play games? What do we know and how should we behave when we play? This course introduces you to the study of philosophy through an examination of sports and games and their role in creating a meaningful life.
Readings:
The readings will be drawn from academic journals, book excerpts and other sources.
Tentative Class Schedule for Spring 2027: (Meets MW 3-415 PM)
Week of 1/11: Introduction: What are Games? What are Sports?
Week of 1/18: Defining Play, Game, and Sport
- No Class 1/18 for MLK JR Day
- Bernard Suits: “Words on Play”
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 1/25: Defining Play, Game, and Sport, Cont.
- Bernard Suits: The Grasshopper (selections).
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 2/1: Defining Play, Game, and Sport, Cont.
- Chad Carlson: “A Three-Pointer Revisiting Three Crucial Issues in the “Tricky Triad” of Play, Games, and Sport”
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 2/8: What is the Meaning of Life? Part 1
- Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 2/15: What is the Meaning of Life? Part 2
- Richard Taylor, “The Meaning of Life”
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 2/22: What is the Meaning of Life? Part 3
- Susan Wolf, “The Meaning of Lives”
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 3/1: Review; In Class Midterm Exam
Week of 3/8: Spring Break
Week of 3/15: Who is the Player? (Agency and Self hood)
- “Chapter 3 Layers of Agency” in Nguyen, C. Thi. Games Agency as Art.
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 3/22: What do we know when we play?
- “Chapter 4: Are There Different Types of Sporting Knowledge?” in Ryall, Emily. Philosophy of Sport: Key Questions.
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 3/29: How Should We Play?
- Carr, Albert. “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?” Harvard Business Review January 1968.
- Pearson, Kathleen M. “Deception, Sportsmanship, and Ethics.” Quest (National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education) 19, no. 1 (1973): 115–18.
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 4/5: Gamification and the use of Games
- Selection from Jane McGonigal Reality is Broken
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 4/12: Is Life Just a Game?
- Suits, Bernard. “Is Life a Game We Are Playing?” Ethics 77, no. 3 (1967): 209–13.
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 4/19: Work and Games
- Carrie-Ann. “Mike Rowe, Work, and Meaning in Life.” Reason Papers 45, no. 2 (2025).
- Weekly Response Posts
Week of 4/26: Review, Exam
For current ASU offerings: https://catalog.apps.asu.edu/catalog/classes
This course can be used as an elective in ASU’s Sports, Cultures and Ethics certificate.
The course has ASU’s Humanities, Arts and Design (HUAD) General Studies Designation.
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