The Game as an Ontological Practice

Abstract

The ontological status of the game, according to the authors, today needs a particularly thorough analysis, and traditional approaches to game research require a deeper methodological justification. The growing importance of game culture in modern social dynamics sharply raises questions about the essence of games, to which the previous paradigm, based on an activity approach, did not give clear answers. The hypothesis of the study is that the game is one of the oldest ontological practices and serves to identify the ethical, semantic, existential boundaries of certain everyday situations in which a person develops acceptable or possible behavioral strategies for himself. In this status, game is comparable to ritual and performs similar functions in social dynamics. The study used phenomenological and systemic methods with elements of the structural-functional approach and the method of logical reconstruction, as an auxiliary toolkit of sociological research was used, in particular, the focus group method. As a result of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that modern computer, virtual games act as tools for self-knowledge for users, and also serve to mark socially acceptable and unacceptable behavior patterns. Social reality plays a double role here. On the one hand, it forms a dichotomous relationship with virtual reality, which allows the player to form their own ethical principles related to behavior in various environments. On the other hand, social reality is a source for game plots, implicitly offering the player to treat it contemplatively and detachedly. Thus, the study revealed a new socio-cultural significance of the game in social and personal development. The proposed methodology for the interpretation of games is a universal method, with the help of which previously difficult to resolve issues, in particular, the phenomenon of ludomania, can be clearly verified.