Play, philosophy, and rationality

I thought it was about time we had some more action on here!

Some very half-baked thoughts; what do others think?

If play is a way of disturbing the rational order of reality (as Stuart cites Deleuze and Guattari, a way of 'plotting lines of flight away from planes of organisation'), and could even be said to be an irrational, or nonsensical form of behaviour, then isn't it wholly incompatible with the project of philosophy, which is all about the imposition of order and the application of rationality?

If we allow philosophy to become an engagement with irrationality (as opposed to a battle against it), then we betray the nature and goals of philosophy.

And if we allow the play instinct to become defined and subsumed by rationalisation (what could be seen as a co-option of play to powers of order and control) then the very essence of play is lost.

How can this be resolved?

Feezell's latest article on play

One of our keynote speakers, Randolf Feezell has just published an article in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport on the concept of play:

A Pluralist Conception of Play

JPS Vol 37, Issue 2. pp147 – 165 The philosophical and scientific literature on play is extensive and the approaches to the study, description, and explanation of play are diverse. In this paper I intend to provide an overview of approaches to play. My interest is in describing the most fundamental categories in terms of which play is characterized, explained, and evaluated. Insofar as these categories attempt to describe what kind of reality we are talking about when we make claims about play, I hope to clarify the metaphysics of play. Once this categorical scheme is made clear, we will be in a better position to evaluate the task of definition, claims about the relation of sport and play, and assertions about the significance of play. First, I place the discussion in the context of Bernard Suits’s account of play and some other recent approaches to play. Next, I distinguish the following approaches to play: (a) play as behavior or activity; (b) play as motive, attitude, or state of mind; (c) play as form or structure; (d) play as meaningful experience; (e) play as an ontologically distinctive phenomenon. There is a natural progression in the way the analysis unfolds. In the final section I argue that my analysis generates a pluralist, nonreductive account of play. http://journals.humankinetics.com/jps-current-issue/jps-volume-37-issue-2-october/a-pluralist-conception-of-play

Welcome!

Welcome to the Philosophy at Play blog here at the University of Gloucestershire.

This blog is to facilitate philosophical investigation into, and reflection on, play. It is also link to an upcoming (click the tab above for details) event at the University.

As the days go by, more links, as well as substantive posts, will begin to appear here - and comments and suggestions are - of course - very welcome.

Cheers,
Dave W.