Play

I’m thinking seriously about play and games in preparation for my forthcoming seminar on sports and philosophy (which will include actual physical activity). I’ve just read three books related to this. First is Mark Rowlands’ new book The Philosopher and the Wolf, a stunningly good narrative about the author’s relationship with his “pet” wolf. Among many wonderful and poignant moments, the book talks about the wolf’s style of play and its style of life. This reinforced my view that play connects us with our animal heritage, which is a good (not a bad!) thing. Then there is Johan Huizinga’s old (1938) Homo Ludens, a learned anthropological treatise on the role of play in shaping civilisation, in which game-playing comes to seem the dominant feature of human life. Finally, Bernard Suits’ The Grasshopper, a minor masterpiece, strangely neglected by mainstream philosophy, in which the author defines the notion of a game with great insight and sophistication–the main point being that a game always proceeds by erecting obstacles to achieving its goal, instead of adopting the most direct means possible. This book also puts play at the centre of human (and animal) life, declaring games the highest form of human activity. All in all, we need to get serious about our game-playing and stop thinking it’s peripheral or somehow inferior to “work”. My own recent book, Sport, argues much the same, but I’m glad to have found three such ringing ensdorsements of this ludic point of view.