1 / 12

Philosophy, Ideology, and Theory in The Game

Philosophy, Ideology, and Theory in The Game. Overview. Nicholas van Orton is a billionaire leading a dull life He is given the chance to play a “game” that is supposed to be a life-changing experience It takes over his life and he doesn’t know what’s part of the Game and what’s not.

iden
Download Presentation

Philosophy, Ideology, and Theory in The Game

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Philosophy, Ideology, and Theory in The Game

  2. Overview • Nicholas van Orton is a billionaire leading a dull life • He is given the chance to play a “game” that is supposed to be a life-changing experience • It takes over his life and he doesn’t know what’s part of the Game and what’s not

  3. Philosophy: Existentialism • People have free will • Humans work best when they exercise free will to make good choices • People should not become drones or live a life that’s structured for them by the social system around them.

  4. Philosophy: Metaphysics • What is reality? • In “The Game”, every normal anchor of reality is removed. • Questioning everything about what is real and what is not brings van Orton to a childlike state • Nothing is taken for granted anymore.

  5. Philosophy: Epistemology • How do you know what you know? • When people you trust tell you things • When you see things with your own eyes • What is worth knowing? • The “truth” becomes more important when life and death hang on it.

  6. Philosophy: Epistomology • The viewer of the movie shares the main characters’ problems with Metaphysics and Epistomology • We are left to use logic to try to work out what is real, and what our evidence is that we know it • The movie makers manipulate us, just as CRS manipulates him. • We see what they show us.

  7. Ideology: Socially Progressive • Van Orton at the beginning of the movie is the stereotype of a very wealthy man • He symbolizes capitalism, “corporate America” and privileged social classes. • He is unhappy and unfulfilled due to lack of human relationships.

  8. Ideology continuted • At the end of the movie, he has experienced being poor. • He is more aware of the relative unimportance of money • He is happier and more fulfilled.

  9. Ideology: Pragmatism • Behave in ways that will help you to further your goals. • In this case, being helpful to others, or at least, not unnecessarily unkind, is pragmatic. • Van Orton’s social class normally shields him from the need to give help, because he doesn’t need to get it from anyone he doesn’t pay.

  10. Theory: Psychological Determinism • If you have someone’s psychological profile and history, you know exactly what they will do. • People may have free will, but will basically act in predictable ways.

  11. Conclusion • Van Orton’s character went through a significant learning experience • People can be rigid and inflexible in their thinking, and the return to basic questioning about ‘the big questions’ can be useful.

  12. References • Brancato, J., Ferris, M., Gross, L., & Walker, A.K. (1996). The Game. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/the-game_shooting.html • Existentialism – A philosophy. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm

More Related