Recently Published Book Spotlight: Aesthetics and Video Games
Christopher Bartel’s new book *Aesthetics and Video Games* (Bloomsbury, 2025) offers a fresh philosophical framework for understanding why games are aesthetically valuable. It introduces the concept of “dollhouse play,” where players treat digital worlds as toys, emphasizing customization and imaginative freeplay over winning or narrative. Bartel argues that traditional aesthetics—focused on rule‑based mechanics or story—misses a large segment of player experience, using games like *Animal Crossing* and *Stardew Valley* as exemplars. The work positions video‑game aesthetics as a mature field ready for deeper theoretical expansion.
The Paradox of China’s Crypto Regulation and Capital Going Global (Part 1)
China’s November 2025 meeting officially classified stablecoins as virtual currency, ending any prospect of them serving as legal tender. The decision marks the culmination of a twelve‑year crackdown and creates a stark regulatory divergence from the United States, where stablecoins...
Iris Murdoch’s Psychology of Haunting: Fantasy, Ethical Attention, and the Spectral Past
Iris Murdoch’s novels embed a psychology of haunting that transcends gothic décor, using spectral elements to reveal unresolved trauma, ego‑centric fantasies, and moral obligations. Drawing on Derrida’s hauntology, she shows how past relationships persist as ethical pressures in the present....
Why Do I Advocate for the General Use of the Term “So-Called Artificial Intelligence”?
The author argues for consistently using the phrase “so‑called artificial intelligence” to remind readers that current AI systems are statistical simulators, not conscious agents. While large language models can generate plausible text, they lack beliefs, intent, and genuine understanding, merely...
Recently Published Book Spotlight: Anticolonialism, Ontology, and Semiotics: A Cinematic Exploration
Professor Patrick D. Anderson’s new book, *Anticolonialism, Ontology, and Semiotics: A Cinematic Exploration* (2026), builds an anticolonial framework for political philosophy by analyzing Hollywood movies through the lens of Africana thought. Drawing on Fanon, Cleaver, and Wynter, the work re‑introduces...