Newswise — Gen Con, billed as the longest running, best attended gaming convention in the world, beams into downtown Indianapolis Thursday through Sunday, August 13 -16, 2009.
Last year's convention drew more than 28,000 attendees " including many dressed as the heroes and villains of "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" and creatures from the "Lord of the Rings."
The Trekkers and gamers are no difference from the academics who not only enjoy role-playing entertainment, but seek to explore the underlying philosophy of sci-fi/fantasy," says IUPUI philosophy Professor Jason T. Eberl. The professor has edited a trilogy of books, and taught courses on the subject of sci-fi pop culture and philosophy.
"It may seem as if walking around downtown Indianapolis wearing Princess Leia hairbuns, carrying a lightsaber or phaser set to stun, or sweating under the rubber mask of some creature out of 'Lord of the Rings' is not a dignified way to spend one's weekend. But beneath the trappings of sci-fi and fantasy films, TV shows, books, comics, and gaming, there is often a more profound quest to explore the human condition and the universe we inhabit, Eberl says.
"In this, Trekkers, gamers, and members of the elite 501st Legion of Stormtroopers are not all that different from philosophers and other academics who not only enjoy these entertaining endeavors, but also seek to explore more rigorously the ideas and questions raised through the sci-fi/fantasy genre in the classroom, in books, and by conversation in pubs and coffee houses.
"So whether one is interested in the nature of moral good and evil (blue vs. red lightsabers, Harry vs. Voldemort), what it means to be a person (do Data, RD-D2, and Cylons count?), or if there is indeed some sort of 'Force' providentially guiding the universe, one can investigate these questions both in the academic world and in the world of 'serious play' that Lucas, Roddenberry, Moore, Rowling, Tolkein and countless others have created for us to explore."
Jason T. Eberl, Ph.D. is associate professor of philosophy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He has written numerous essays on the intersection of philosophy and pop culture. Eberl has also edited the books "Star Wars and Philosophy" (Open Court, 2005), "Star Trek and Philosophy" (Open Court, 2008), and "Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy" (Wiley, 2008).
For additional information about Eberl's books, go to: http://info.iupui.edu/news/page/normal/3468.html.
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