Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy Part One

Anarres Project

The popularity of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons has skyrocketed recently. Partly because of the COVID 19 pandemic and also because of the its prominent portrayal in the hit show "Stranger Things", more and more people have started to play this classic fantasy game where players imagine themselves as characters in far away mystical realms.

In this episode of Conversations on Anarres, we talk with two philosophers who are fans of Dungeons and Dragons. Both of them grew up playing the game, but in recent years they have started to reflect on the potential that the game has for developing philosophical skills, civic capacities, and imaginative abilities. We meet Dr. Terrance MacMullan, who teaches philosophy at Eastern Washington University, and Dr. Albert "Randy" Spencer who teaches philosophy at Portland State University.

In this first part of a two part episode, we talk about how they first learned about Dungeons and Dragons and what they first got out of it when they started playing. We also learn about how they are currently engaged in playing the game and thinking about it philosophically. In part two, we talk about the specific philosophical lessons they think we can learn from Dungeons and Dragons.

Music for the episode: Omega by Scott Buckley https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/omega-scott-buckleyMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/ZRBsgI8PD1Y

Cover Image: "Greet the Final Battle Alone" War game photo created by liuzishan - www.freepik.com