Philosophy’s Gambit: Play and Being Played [Hardback]

Philosophy’s Gambit: Play and Being Played

Jeremy Sampson (Ed.)

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In “Philosophy’s Gambit” Jeremy Sampson has brought together an original and thought-provoking collection of essays on the relationship between play and philosophy. All importantly, this is not simply an exploration of what philosophers have written about play. It is also an exploration of the playfulness that can, and perhaps should, exist within philosophy. Contributors are both themselves playful, not least in a practice of reading together seemingly diverse philosophers, so that Hegel, for example, is placed in the context of the Eastern Patristic Christian Tradition (and the notion of the play of the infinite). Playfulness is uncovered in philosophical texts, and not merely in text by authors one might expect to be playful (say Derrida or Rorty), but also in surprising places, not least the writings of Kant. At this level the essays often serve to highlight the somewhat straight-faced approach that is currently taken, not just in doing philosophy, but in addressing its past. The potential to read philosophical texts playfully and humorously is rarely recognised.
As a history of the philosophy of play, the collection is informative and at times surprising. Chapters on the Chinese Daoist Zhuangzi, and the sixteenth century Indian philosopher Rupa Gosvami challenge narrower Western perspectives. While certain key figures of Western philosophy predominate (not least Gadamer, but also Schiller, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger), a chapter on Eugen Fink is important in reminding the reader of an often unjustly neglected figure.
[…] a rich and surprising collection, that will act as a significant stimulant to further work on the philosophy of play and, it might be hoped, to a greater recognition of the creative power of play within philosophy itself.

Dr. Andrew Edgar
Cardiff University

Offering a series of original investigations into play as a concept and as a phenomenon, “Philosophy’s Gambit” is a refreshing anthology which will likely inspire, challenge, and provoke readers (mostly found within the academic world).

Dr. Jonas Holst Soerensen
Institute of Humanism and Society
San Jorge University, Zaragoza, Spain

Living in an era of immense and bewildering change in technology, pandemic and war, humanity has had cause to challenge the apparent old fixities and certainties of life. Essentially, are we being played? The premise of this volume is that all of human life is underpinned by powerful dynamic systems, so tightly interwoven into our daily lives that we are barely aware of them, whose true nature only comes to light at times of profound disruption or crisis. These powerful dynamic systems, philosophical or otherwise, often fall under the umbrella of ludic theory. Within these pages, some of the leading thinkers of ludic theory from three continents explore its diversity and relevance through the perspectives of some of the world’s most famous philosophers.

In many ways, this volume follows on from Sampson’s 'Being Played: Gadamer and Philosophy’s Hidden Dynamic' (2019). It also draws upon other ludic-centred and ludic-inspired texts that include Mattice’s 'Metaphor and Metaphilosophy' (2014) and Arthos’ 'Gadamer’s Poetics: A Critique of Modern Aesthetics' (2014), together with Frazier’s 'Reality, Religion and Passion' (2009) and Homan’s 'A Hermeneutics of Poetic Education' (2020). Although this is not the first volume offering an integrated approach to ludic theory, see Ryall (ed), 'The Philosophy of Play' (2013), it offers a diverse and detailed approach to the subject, including not only Western philosophers, but also thinkers from Ancient China, 16th-century India and modern South America.

This volume will be not only of interest to scholars and students of ludic theory and philosophy in general, but because of its deliberate globalised content, it is hoped it might have a wider appeal globally as humanity continues to grapple with significant challenges created by these current winds of change.

Jeremy Sampson is the editor of the present volume and is a postgraduate at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, researching in Philosophy, Literary History and Scottish Heritage. Formerly, he was a postgraduate in Philosophical and Systematic Theology at the University of Nottingham, UK. Born in the UK, he was educated at a number of British universities including London, Durham and St. Andrews. Joining the teaching profession in 1993, he has lived and worked in England, Cyprus, The Bahamas and now Hong Kong, where he has taught English Literature, Theory of Knowledge and Ethics for over twenty years. He holds a doctorate in Hermeneutics and Literary History from the University of Chichester. UK (2018). Since the 1990s he has been a freelance writer for various publications such as Oxford University Press and the Times Higher Education Supplement, writing on such diverse subjects as Education, Philosophy, Theory of Science and Twentieth-Century Literature. His most recent publications include 'Being Played: Gadamer and Philosophy's Hidden Dynamic' (Vernon Press, 2019). Also, he is editing a further volume on ludic theory 'Philosophy's Arena: Play and Players in a Gamified World' (Vernon Press, 2024). Included among future projects are 'Game of Shadows: Gadamer and the Enigma of Health', co-written by Mark G. Harrison and Michael Ladomery, exploring Gadamerian thought upon the art and practice of medicine and health, together with a historical volume entitled 'Superpowers of the Ancient World: The Deadly Rivalry Between Rome and Carthage' (2026). Latterly, he has written short stories for European publications and is working on his first novel 'The Long Dark Playtime of the Soul'.

Play, Playfulness Ludic, Ludicity