If a tree falls in a forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it really make a sound? Sure, the scientific answer might be yes, but I think this also applies as an allegory to the question of moral choices in video games. Notably, how are ethics in video games changed by the way we perceive them?
The first question to answer is: does ethicality even exist in video games? According to Wikipedia, three main competing views on how moral questions should be answered are: virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism. I don’t quite understand virtue ethics as well, but I would argue that deontology and consequentialism are hard to apply completely to the realm of video gaming. Utilitarianism would not apply because there are no practical consequences to your choice – the consequence is an in game mechanic and thus not a real world issue. The repercussions we face from the choices we make in video games are wholly contained within them and are to some degree negligible when compared to true, real-life, ethical decisions. While deontological ethics, or the idea that there exist “notions based on 'rules' i.e. that there is an obligation to perform the 'right' action”, can be applied to actions we undertake in real life, I argue that they don’t translate into games. If we treat our actions in video games literally, then playing FPS’ would inherently be unethical. We cannot treat our actions in video games as if they are actions performed in real life, so then we must establish deontological rules that either govern how we interact with games (i.e. “do not kill when playing a game”) or we must empathize with our characters and treat our actions as real life anecdotes (i.e. killing is unethical, but our character was forced to murder in self-defense, therefore he is not committing an unethical action).
Finally, I wanted to take this idea of ethics as it applies to video games to discuss my original question. Just like many people disagree on ethics as they apply to reality, gamers may not see eye to eye on morality within their games. For example, if a player doesn’t see video games as a field to which morality applies, then they don’t evaluate decisions on the basis of ethicality. Thus is not only the dimension of how ethics should be applied, but also how players treat video games as agents for morality. Thus in Papers, Please, if the player prescribes to a rule that he must “save as many lives as possible when playing video games” then decisions to deny entrants that have proper documents may be unethical. However, if one doesn’t believe that video games can affect morality, then they may make decisions thought to be unethical by others, without the intent to be immoral.
Comments