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Violent video games and morality: a meta-ethical approach

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Abstract

This paper considers what it is about violent video games that leads one reasonably minded person to declare “That is immoral” while another denies it. Three interpretations of video game content are discussed: reductionist, narrow, and broad. It is argued that a broad interpretation is required for a moral objection to be justified. It is further argued that understanding the meaning of moral utterances—like “x is immoral”—is important to an understanding of why there is a lack of moral consensus when it comes to the content of violent video games. Constructive ecumenical expressivism is presented as a means of explaining what it is that we are doing when we make moral pronouncements and why, when it comes to video game content, differing moral attitudes abound. Constructive ecumenical expressivism is also presented as a means of illuminating what would be required for moral consensus to be achieved.

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Notes

  1. I acknowledge that some content depicting virtual violence may be available to age-appropriate adolescents: M rating permits 17+ years of age, for example [based on the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)]. Nevertheless, I wish to establish, first and foremost, an ethical position relevant to adults exposed to video game simulated violence (even in the case of games with an M rating), before considering what such a position would have to say about the exposure of such virtual violence to age-appropriate adolescents.

  2. Within the game, the ‘children’ are in fact creatures called Little Sisters. They do, however, resemble young girls.

  3. See http://uk.askmen.com/top_10/videogame/top-10-most-violent-video-games_1.html. Accessed 15 April 2014.

  4. Of course, Hume [(1739) 1978] would argue that no objects (whether representations or otherwise) have inherent (im)moral properties (See “Constructive sentimentalism” section).

  5. One may object to the claim that there is nothing inherently immoral in representing murder or other POTAs. As evidence for this rebuttal, one might cite examples of ‘gore porn’ (Tait 2008)—that is, reality Internet sites which show graphic real-life footage of crime scenes, road traffic accidents, executions or suicides (etc.)—or even art exhibitions such as Body World which present for viewing the skinned dead bodies of consenting adults in various ‘artistic’ poses (Moore and Brown 2007). In response to such an objection, I would still argue that the moral objection is not based on any inherent immoral property of the representation but on the broader context: in this case, the purpose of the site or presentation. Is it to satisfy ghoulish delight or is its purpose educational? The former is vulnerable to a charge of immorality, the latter less so (if at all). A similar argument (regarding purpose) has been made in the case of ‘dark tourism’ (Lennon and Foley 1996); Stone 2006): namely, the marketing of sites of death/atrocities as tourist destinations (e.g., Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former site of the twin towers in New York, the killing fields of Cambodia). In addition, any broader context should also include the age of the viewer (minor or adult).

  6. Di Muzio’s argument was originally directed against ‘slasher’ films such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, it seems clear to me that the same argument can be applied to video games like Postal 2.

  7. Although my interest in this paper is directed at adult engagement with video games, one may nevertheless wish to contrast any alleged risks associated with playing violent video games, particularly for children in the US, with the comparatively increased risk associated with playing (American) football (I thank the anonymous reviewer for drawing my attention to this point). Boden et al. (2013) recorded the number of reported child fatalities associated with playing (American) football during the period 1990–2010. They found around 12 fatalities occurred per year during this period. In addition, see Shankar et al. (2007) for a report on the number of school and collegiate fractures and concussions reported during the 2005–06 season.

  8. An anaphoric reference occurs when a word in a text refers to a previous idea in the text for its meaning. In the sentence “Fred always looked unkempt but this never seemed to bother him”, the word ‘him’ clearly refers to Fred and therefore makes anaphoric reference to Fred.

  9. In a slightly more complex version of the original ecumenical expressivism, (see Ridge 2006), S’s moral approval or disapproval is said to coincide with that of an ideal advisor. Where S disapproves of x, S’s belief that x realizes P is a belief that x realizes some property that the ideal advisor disapproves of. What counts as an ideal advisor can vary. Where one’s ideal advisor is a staunch advocate of God’s law, S may disapprove of x because S believes that P, which is realized by x, amounts to a violation of God’s law and so would be disapproved of by the ideal advisor. Alternatively, where S’s ideal advisor adheres to utilitarian principles, S may disapprove of P because it equates to negative utility, as disapproved of by the ideal advisor. This more complex version of ecumenical expressivism should not affect the argument for constructive ecumenical expressivism presented here.

  10. I thank the anonymous reviewer for drawing my attention to the need for terminological clarification here.

  11. Again, I thank the anonymous reviewer for drawing my attention to this distinction.

  12. This position is able to provide the ideal advisor noted in the more complex version of ecumenical expressivism (see footnote 9) with a culturally shaped and socially endorsed status.

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  1. Division of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4BU, UK

    Garry Young

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  1. Garry Young
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Correspondence to Garry Young.

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Young, G. Violent video games and morality: a meta-ethical approach. Ethics Inf Technol 17, 311–321 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-016-9386-0

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