“Philosophiraga” – Launch and Giveaway!
4 min read
Right is right and wrong is wrong.
– Terrell Owens
I’m so excited.
And terrified.
Philosophiraga, the video games and philosophy podcast, is here.
This is… I think the first time I’ve ever released something which wasn’t purely written stuff, so I’m well out of my comfort zone here. That said, I’m really proud just to have made this, whether it turns out that people like it or not.
In case you’ve somehow missed it, Philosophiraga is the new podcast about philosophy and video games by… me! (I’m Chris, the Sometimes Vaguely Philosophical Mage. Hi.) I’ve been planning the thing for a while with the help of his Redness himself, and… it’s finally happening. Which is nuts.
You can now listen to the first four episodes of Philosophiraga below! There’s an ‘episode zero’ which explains a bit about how the show will work, and then three episodes in our first ‘module’: moral philosophy.
Please do let me know what you think of the show – if you like it, if there are things you think can be improved, whatevs. You can even win FREE stuff just for helping me out in this way!
How to Receive Cool Philosophiraga-Themed Stuff At No Cost To Yourself
All you have to do is leave Philosophiraga a review. You can see all the places where the show is available at the bottom of this post, and you can leave us a review on any (or multiple!) of those sources.
Every review you leave between now (November 23rd) and a week from now (the 30th) nets you one entry into our prize draw. Simply say something nice – or constructive, at least – and then let us know you’ve done it; either leave a comment below or tag me or Red on Twitter. Screenshots would be appreciated so we know who’s left what where.
Anyhow, at some point shortly after the 30th we’ll draw four random winners, each of whom will receive a pretty sweet item of Philosophiraga merch courtesy of our amazing friends at TeePublic. (Click the ‘shop now’ button at the bottom of the post to see all the merch TWRM has to offer!)
Our winners will receive:
- First place: a Philosophiraga Hoodie
- Second place: Philosophiraga Classic T-Shirt
- Third place: Philosophiraga Mug
- Fourth place: Philosophiraga Sticker and Magnet
And, of course, everyone who enters will win my undying affection.
But enough from me, I think: time to hand over to… me. Except in audio form.
Listen to the Video Games and Philosophy Podcast
Assuming things have worked, above is an embedded player to make it lovely and easy for you to listen! (Note that the episodes are in reverse order: M1E2 is module one – moral philosophy – episode two, so after episode zero you wanna listen to M1E1 first and go from there.)
You can also head over to any of the sources linked below.
We’ve got Spotify, Apple Podcasts… something called Castbox… however you like to listen to podcasts, Philosophiraga is available to you. If there’s a spot where you can’t find Philosophiraga, let us know and we can attempt to get it there! Download and listen on a commute, furthering your mental journey as you undertake a physical one! Listen while cooking, simmering your grey matter and your food matter! Listen at work for a more stimulating and thus less guilt-inducing form of procrastination!
Please enjoy Philosophiraga, the new podcast about philosophy and video games. I’m reasonably confident, if nothing else, that it will in fact be the best podcast about video games and philosophy ever produced by The Well-Red Mage. If you enjoy listening to it anywhere near as much as I enjoyed working with Red to make it, I think I’ll have done alright.
LISTEN TO PHILOSOPHIRAGA
Though he’s been known by many names across the vast and peculiar landscape of the Internet, every iteration of The Sometimes Vaguely Philosophical Mage has shared an urge to look far too closely at tiny details and extrapolate huge, important-seeming conclusions. These days, in addition to Mage duties, he can be found discussing gaming and other pop culture (and occasionally sharing some of his own musical and fictional creations) at the Overthinker Y blog and on Twitter.
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Episode 3 was an interesting listen. Your talk about the Merryweather Heist mission prompted to go back and replay it, which inevitably lead to me spending the rest of the day catching up on the game.
It seems to me that Michael, Franklin and Trevor all enact the logical contradiction you described because their justifications for their actions are all based on their own needs being either more important than others’ or the only ones which matter at all. GTA Online is the ultimate example if what would happen if such rules were universally applied, with every player following their own individual code and the chaos that creates.
Grand Theft Auto V is definitely a game you should play because the protagonists’ different motivations is a good opportunity for multi-role playing – in other words, assuming different ways of playing the game based on which character you’re playing at any given moment. In fact, the ending is – without spoiling it – multiple choice and it does somewhat spotlight the ideas you’ve discussed, in terms of what eventually happens to characters if their philosophy is followed-through to its natural conclusion.
Also, something I thought was neat is how the player receives a psychiatric evaluated at the end based on their behaviour. There’s a lot of what you were talking about in there, too.
This sounds super interesting and I definitely want to play more GTA, especially V. Thanks for the listen and the insightful comment!