Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

This research is focused on the area of moral philosophy and video game studies and considers construction of authenticity and moral decision-making of characters in the literature fiction and video game “Game of Thrones.” I describe how authenticity allows characters to make moral decisions, which distinguish them as practically wise or unwise, and as morally good or bad, according to the concepts of Charles Taylor and Aristotle. The research is supported by two types of methodology: one is critical analysis of construction of authenticity in the novel series according to the concepts of moral philosophy, and another is statistical analysis of decisions made by players engaged in the video game. Research revealed that authenticity of characters in the Game of Thrones has two components –self-knowledge and motivation of self-development. Authenticity is constructed differently in the literature fiction of Game of Thrones and video game because of semiotical nature of social and individual processes in the literature and video game fiction. I conclude that there is a distinction between morally wise decision-making and being morally good in the Game of Thrones, and that authenticity as a moral source is crucial for decision-making and being morally good. I come to the idea that video games based on literature fiction allows practicing morality and moral decision-making in the modern culture in a new way, presenting a tool of discovery of moral values.Video games studies present a field for further research on morality and moral decision-making in modern culture.