Welcome to another episode of Armchair Gaming. The goal for this show is simple: I want to help you learn more about philosophy, and I’ll be using video games as an instrument to help teach it.
Today we are returning to Bungie’s Destiny 2, which has been recently a fairly major update with more content, aptly named the Curse of Osiris.
When we last looked at Destiny 2, we looked at theology, organized religion, and personal identity. With the latest content, we get a solid look at one of the Tower’s greatest legends, Osiris, one of the strongest warlocks to ever be created by the Traveler.
Last week, we took a look at how Osiris confirms the identity of Warlocks as Philosophers in the Destiny Universe. His love of knowledge, and his desire to push his personal, and the global understanding of the universe (and especially the Vex) cements Osiris squarely in the realm of philosophers. This week, we are taking a look Plato’s republic in it’s most literal interpretation, a guide to the ideal nation-state. In the Republic, Plato outlines how governments should run. We are going to use Osiris as an example of how philosophers, while possibly good rulers, are far from perfect. Given the tools to lead, Osiris nearly navigated Man-kind to extinction, and his star pupil, now leads the Vanguard in tandem with 2 other, less philosophically inclined individuals.
About Armchair Gaming
I had the chance to explore philosophy in high school and I loved it so much that I went on to study it at Trent University, where I obtained a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in philosophy. I feel so strongly about the subject that I often find myself going through the books I had purchased over my university career, as well as adding to the collection regularly.
Philosophy is an amazingly exciting subject that can teach us not just what to think, but how to think. Unfortunately, a lot of people see philosophy as some intimidating monster, with difficult concepts and theories to grasp. Conversely, some see it as a waste of someone’s time and intellect. As someone who has dedicated their life to the subject, this Scholarly Gamer wants to bring philosophy to you in a way that is approachable, sometimes funny, and presented through a medium of great importance to himself and millions of other people around the world: Games.
I hope you’ll join us on this journey. And remember, you never go a day in your life without living some philosophy.
