Abstract
Games, which philosophers commonly invoke as models for diverse phenomena, are plausibly understood in terms of rules and goals, but this gives rise to two puzzles. The first concerns the identity of a single game over time. Intuitively one and the same game can undergo a change in rules, as when the rules of chess were modified so that a pawn could be moved two squares forward on its first move. Yet if games are individuated in terms of their constitutive rules and goals, this is incoherent—new rules mean a new game. The second concerns the individuation of games at a point in time. Intuitively, there can be different versions of a single game, where the versions differ in the details of their rules. I offer a solution to this problem that draws on an analogy with individuating languages. The resulting theory should illuminate the metaphysics of games more generally.
Highlights
Philosophers investigating wide variety of topics have found games to provide a useful analogy
Wittgenstein argued that natural languages are usefully understood by way of analogy with games (Wittgenstein 1958)
If games are individuated in terms of their constitutive rules and goals, this is incoherent—new rules trivially entail a new game, not a new “version of” or “variant on” the same game
Summary
The most influential definition of ‘play a game’ comes from Bernard Suits, in his classic, The Grasshopper. Unlike the Stephen King example, ordinary speakers who say that the rules of chess changed when they introduced the “en passant” rule do not take themselves to be speaking loosely. When people debate a proposed rule change to a beloved game, it is not at all uncommon for partisans to appeal to “the spirit of the game” and “the game’s rich tradition” as reasons for or against various proposed rule changes This talk can be reinterpreted as loose talk, when what the speakers really intend is to be arguing that some new but very similar game would be better or worse than some older game. This sets the stage for my proposed solution in the case of games
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