Abstract:

Today, more and more attention is paid to video games as an effective learning tool due to the fact that “digital natives” (according to M. Prensky) are used to work with information in a different way, to communicate and learn, which in turn requires building new forms of presenting educational content that is more attractive for the present generation.

Video games have a positive impact on the learning process, especially when it comes to motivation and involvement. For teaching philosophy it is possible to use commercial video games that are designed for entertainment, but at the same time represent philosophical ideas and encourage reflexion. For instance, BioShock represents Ayn Rand’s philosophy and theories of Aristotle, Plato, Leibniz, Marx etc.

Serious games with more specific content can be another tool for teaching philosophy. The problem of finding the balance between game playability and instructional design is pivotal in educational games production. As a case study that solves this problem, we propose the concept of an educational game for teaching philosophy, developed on the basis of the Aristotle’s ontology and using procedural rhetoric. As we see it, procedural rhetoric can be an effective approach to the educational games design allowing game mechanics and procedures transmit educational content.

The main thing in teaching philosophy is to teach how to look at the world from a different angle using various optics and ontological approaches. We believe that educational games for philosophy can become truly philosophical if they are funded in ontologies, and not just retell the ideas of famous philosophers.

The educational game, the concept of which we want to discuss, is built on ancient natural philosophy, namely on the physics of Aristotle.

While playing the proposed game students will be able to understand and visually feel firsthand how the ancient Greeks interpreted the nature of things and saw their place in the world.

Keywords:

Serious games, educational games, philosophy, Aristotle, ontology, myth.