Virtuous video games : cultivating character with violent video games

Abstract

The inclusion of violence in video games has attracted controversy and debates amongst many for a long time now. As technology gets increasingly sophisticated and advanced, with better graphics quality and mediums which allows for hyper-realistic gaming, the content presented in video games calls for more ethical scrutiny. In my paper, I will argue that the inclusion of violent content is not unethical, if and only if it is in line with what the virtue ethicist would think is right. To do so, I will first provide an overview of the violent video game industry today. Next, I will show that both the utilitarian and Kantian theories are neutral about violence in video games – they are unable to provide good arguments to neither ban nor support violence in video games. I will then propose how virtue ethics can accommodate and even support the inclusion of violent content by the fulfillment of two criteria: possessing a (1) Meaningful Narrative and a (2) Moral System in the game.