The “What’s in a game?” Nammour Philosophy Symposium event was held at Sacramento State on Wednesday and Thursday with guest speakers sharing their philosophical insights on the topic of gaming and its effects on humanity.

The event is held annually and Sac State invited philosophy departments from other schools to attend.

There were speakers from Sac State as well as other universities around the country. Students and professors of philosophy were encouraged to attend and ask questions during the Q&A portion. The event also featured an essay contest for students attending either Sac State or any of the community colleges in the Los Rios district. Three essays were chosen for a prize of $200 each.

The event featured nine guest speakers and three essay contest winners presenting their work. The speakers shared their opinions and perspectives on topics ranging from sports to Xbox 360 Kinect – a virtual reality gaming device.

A graduate student from San Francisco State University, Lok Chi Chan, spoke about “The wandering life: Some Daoist reflections on the openness of video games.”

Chan said video games such as Skyrim (a fantasy role-playing game) can be connected to Daoist philosophies. Chan said the way video games are played “logically” is to beat a level or reach a certain objective.

Chan said in connection with anti-logic philosophies of Daoism, games like Skyrim offer the freedom to roam wherever you choose, which creates a way of playing that defies human tendencies to be “normal” and is connected with the way humans often wander through life.

Chan said he wanted to get a philosophical message out to the audience by speaking at the event.

“I think the message I wanted to get across is the relationship between life and gaming,” Chan said. “How we choose to play games is connected to how we live our lives.”

Abstracts on the guest speaker topics and information about the event can be found here.

Jessika Robertson can be reached at [email protected].