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Popular Culture and Philosophy #70
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom
This volume will convince readers that the swift ascent of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons to worldwide popularity in the 1970s and 1980s is “the most exciting event in popular culture since the invention of the motion picture.”
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy presents twenty-one chapters by different writers, all D&D aficionados but with starkly different insights and points of view. It will be appreciated by thoughtful fans of the game, including both those in their thirties, forties, and fifties who have rediscovered the pastime they loved as teenagers and the new teenage and college-student D&D players who have grown up with gaming via computer and console games and are now turning to D&D as a richer, fuller gaming experience.
The book is divided into three parts. The first, “Heroic The Ethical Dungeon-Crawler,” explores what D&D has to teach us about ethics and about how results from the philosophical study of morality can enrich and transform the game itself. Authors argue that it’s okay to play evil characters, criticize the traditional and new systems of moral alignment, and (from the perspective of those who love the game) tackle head-on the recurring worries about whether the game has problems with gender and racial stereotypes. Readers of Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy will become better players, better thinkers, better dungeon-masters, and better people.
Part II, “Paragon Planes of Existence,” arouses a new sense of wonder about both the real world and the collaborative world game players create. Authors look at such metaphysical questions as what separates magic from science, how we express the inexpressible through collaborative storytelling, and what the objects that populate Dungeons and Dragons worlds can teach us about the equally fantastic objects that surround us in the real world.
The third part, “Epic Leveling Up,” is at the crossroads of philosophy and the exciting new field of Game Studies. The writers investigate what makes a game a game, whether D&D players are artists producing works of art, whether D&D (as one of its inventors claimed) could operate entirely without rules, how we can overcome the philosophical divide between game and story, and what types of minds take part in D&D.
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy presents twenty-one chapters by different writers, all D&D aficionados but with starkly different insights and points of view. It will be appreciated by thoughtful fans of the game, including both those in their thirties, forties, and fifties who have rediscovered the pastime they loved as teenagers and the new teenage and college-student D&D players who have grown up with gaming via computer and console games and are now turning to D&D as a richer, fuller gaming experience.
The book is divided into three parts. The first, “Heroic The Ethical Dungeon-Crawler,” explores what D&D has to teach us about ethics and about how results from the philosophical study of morality can enrich and transform the game itself. Authors argue that it’s okay to play evil characters, criticize the traditional and new systems of moral alignment, and (from the perspective of those who love the game) tackle head-on the recurring worries about whether the game has problems with gender and racial stereotypes. Readers of Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy will become better players, better thinkers, better dungeon-masters, and better people.
Part II, “Paragon Planes of Existence,” arouses a new sense of wonder about both the real world and the collaborative world game players create. Authors look at such metaphysical questions as what separates magic from science, how we express the inexpressible through collaborative storytelling, and what the objects that populate Dungeons and Dragons worlds can teach us about the equally fantastic objects that surround us in the real world.
The third part, “Epic Leveling Up,” is at the crossroads of philosophy and the exciting new field of Game Studies. The writers investigate what makes a game a game, whether D&D players are artists producing works of art, whether D&D (as one of its inventors claimed) could operate entirely without rules, how we can overcome the philosophical divide between game and story, and what types of minds take part in D&D.
328 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2012
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303 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 11, 2015
I've gotta stop reading these Pop Culture and Philosophy books.
This one wasn't bad, exactly. Rudimentary 100-level philosophical concepts loosely interwoven with mostly vague allusions to D&D. I haven't dungeoned any dragons since I was thirteen, but the 3rd edition rules are permanently seared into my neocortex, so I was able to understand everything well enough.
Most of it was entry-level stuff: "Does playing an evil character have repercussions outside of the game?" or "How about the categorical imperative, applied to orcs? So is it moral to genocide orcs? Are you suuuure?"
What I could not wrap my friggin' mind around was how they could have done an entire book on D&D and philosophy, and devoted one chapter to the alignment system, with each alignment being explained in a single, phoned-in paragraph.
Are you kidding me, man? You could've squeezed an entire book out of each of the nine cardinal alignments. I only showed up today for Chaotic Neutral. The reason I read this book in the store -- well, it's because I couldn't download it, because no one thought highly enough of it to make it pirateable. But the second reason I read this in Barnes and Noble, cover to cover, was to learn more about Chaotic Neutral than the core books (who FUCKIN' SABOTAGED ME AND DID AWAY WITH IT IN THE 4TH EDITION) or TVTropes could teach me.
I was left wanting. Although, truth be told, I can't be too upset, I knew from the title it was gonna be a gamble, and still...
.... i rolled the dice
OWOWOWWO THANK YOU CLEVELAND I AM OUTTA HERE
This one wasn't bad, exactly. Rudimentary 100-level philosophical concepts loosely interwoven with mostly vague allusions to D&D. I haven't dungeoned any dragons since I was thirteen, but the 3rd edition rules are permanently seared into my neocortex, so I was able to understand everything well enough.
Most of it was entry-level stuff: "Does playing an evil character have repercussions outside of the game?" or "How about the categorical imperative, applied to orcs? So is it moral to genocide orcs? Are you suuuure?"
What I could not wrap my friggin' mind around was how they could have done an entire book on D&D and philosophy, and devoted one chapter to the alignment system, with each alignment being explained in a single, phoned-in paragraph.
Are you kidding me, man? You could've squeezed an entire book out of each of the nine cardinal alignments. I only showed up today for Chaotic Neutral. The reason I read this book in the store -- well, it's because I couldn't download it, because no one thought highly enough of it to make it pirateable. But the second reason I read this in Barnes and Noble, cover to cover, was to learn more about Chaotic Neutral than the core books (who FUCKIN' SABOTAGED ME AND DID AWAY WITH IT IN THE 4TH EDITION) or TVTropes could teach me.
I was left wanting. Although, truth be told, I can't be too upset, I knew from the title it was gonna be a gamble, and still...
.... i rolled the dice
OWOWOWWO THANK YOU CLEVELAND I AM OUTTA HERE
October 21, 2019
You know, perhaps this rating is unfair. It definitely covers some interesting points. But at the same time, works like this suffer from a bit of narrow minded focus, unless you're really into philosophy you won't probably like it any more than this. Not when it's effectively pop-academic essays on philosophy. I still don't regret reading it, and I'll continue to have a look at the other works in the "series", but it never manages to be more than what it is.
And with something like this, it demands at least that.
And with something like this, it demands at least that.
May 5, 2021
I feel like most people who pick this up are either major philosophy fans, or major D&D fans. I'm the latter. My understanding of philosophy is casual at best, so there was a lot to learn from this.. It's definitely more of a philosophy book than a D&D book, but I appreciated recognizing myself and my approach to gaming in a lot of these essays. Other essays gave me new things to think about with regards to D&D and my own campaign. Overall, I think you should really have a deep interest in philosophy or D&D (ideally both!) before picking this up, but if that applies to you, go for it.
October 22, 2025
Probably would have digested it better if I had a primer on a bunch of philosophy terms. Not super hard to follow but some of the chapters/authors were not entry level friendly.
January 8, 2015
As part of Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy series, Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom was exactly what I expected it to be. This collection of essays explores a variety of philosophical questions about Dungeons and Dragons.
From considering the ethics of D&D by examining the alignment system and its implications on reality to looking at D&D as a new form of art, this book has something for anyone interested in philosophy regardless of their familiarity with D&D.
This book is not so much about D&D as it is about philosophy but it will certainly appeal to any reader who has considered the function of D&D and the question of why we play games.
Despite the fact that I am not a philosopher and have only played D&D about a dozen times, I enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom because it made me think about D&D and other games on a deeper level.
3.5/5
From considering the ethics of D&D by examining the alignment system and its implications on reality to looking at D&D as a new form of art, this book has something for anyone interested in philosophy regardless of their familiarity with D&D.
This book is not so much about D&D as it is about philosophy but it will certainly appeal to any reader who has considered the function of D&D and the question of why we play games.
Despite the fact that I am not a philosopher and have only played D&D about a dozen times, I enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom because it made me think about D&D and other games on a deeper level.
3.5/5
April 1, 2023
In some cases, the link between philosophy and D&D was fairly weak, especially when it's covering more Philosophy 101 level stuff. For the most part though, it's pretty decent in covering both philosophy and pop culture source that was being analyzed.
December 5, 2012
If your into Psychology then you would like it. I'm into D&D and it wasn't into it. Some very far reaching points but not for me.
April 16, 2014
I enjoyed 95% of the essays exploring AD&D. This book reminded me of why I enjoyed the game so much and has now given me the itch to take it up again. I love the interactive storytelling.
October 26, 2017
Wonderful collection of essays about so many recognizable aspects of RPGs. (Which definitely showed a lot more thinking about this hobby than I ever did. :-)
I'll be reading it again in the future.
I'll be reading it again in the future.
March 24, 2020
To those reviewers who think this represents some kind of academic philosophy, you are seriously mistaken. This is in no way remotely approaching academic. What it is, is an attempt to bring some philosophical ideas to the masses. Perhaps it accomplishes that for some but, honestly, it is mostly a failure.
There were 2 fairly good essays which I will call out below, but most were insipid failures at best. They ramble on about their authors' experiences while barely bringing in any philosophical issues or doing so poorly. I truly struggled to get through this and I do still read some academic philosophy, which while often quite the slog is also generally a useful one. Not so here.
Essay 15 by Carl Ehrett and Sarah Worth, What Dungeons and Dragons Is and Why We Do It, is great in its first half where it focuses on games (and concepts) making good use of Wittgenstein. Its back portion on narrative/storytelling is OK but the authors ought pull their heads out of their philosophy bubble and look at some other theories on narrative where great strides have been made in the last decade or two. It would have been a much stronger paper.
Essay 21 by D. Aldridge, To Know My Character Better Than He Knows Himself, was also pretty good. And gets props from me for using R.G. Collingwood (via Gadamer).
The early section on ethics was particularly horrendous, which is a real shame as it could have easily been one of the strongest.
There were 2 fairly good essays which I will call out below, but most were insipid failures at best. They ramble on about their authors' experiences while barely bringing in any philosophical issues or doing so poorly. I truly struggled to get through this and I do still read some academic philosophy, which while often quite the slog is also generally a useful one. Not so here.
Essay 15 by Carl Ehrett and Sarah Worth, What Dungeons and Dragons Is and Why We Do It, is great in its first half where it focuses on games (and concepts) making good use of Wittgenstein. Its back portion on narrative/storytelling is OK but the authors ought pull their heads out of their philosophy bubble and look at some other theories on narrative where great strides have been made in the last decade or two. It would have been a much stronger paper.
Essay 21 by D. Aldridge, To Know My Character Better Than He Knows Himself, was also pretty good. And gets props from me for using R.G. Collingwood (via Gadamer).
The early section on ethics was particularly horrendous, which is a real shame as it could have easily been one of the strongest.
October 6, 2024
If you like philosophy and Dungeons and Dragons (the intersection of the two interests would be important), you might enjoy this book. Looking at topics of morality, justice, reality, imagination, existentialism, and meaning by utilizing the Dungeons and Dragons table top role playing game as a medium to explore these concepts was a great way to keep me engaged. I felt like there was a variety in the level of difficulty in the ideas presented with some essays feeling very introductory and others feeling like they had a lot more depth. There were times where I got bored with a writer, but since the book is a collection of essays by multiple writers, this was often a short lived feeling and another writer would get me reengaged with the material.
Overall, I think this was a solid read if you're a philosophy fan who also plays D&D.
Overall, I think this was a solid read if you're a philosophy fan who also plays D&D.
December 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this book and its insightful contents. This book has changed the way I GM in any tabletop RPG not just DND. It has a heavy focus on the philosophy of roleplaying and how to take advantage of it to make your role playing games better. I really enjoyed the moral questions I thought of in-between reading sessions. I don't think I would've enjoyed it as much if it didn't prompt so many questions.
March 3, 2022
Noen kapittel føler jeg ikke hadde en ordentlig raison d'être, men andre hadde noen artige små observasjoner som fikk meg til å si "Hmmm" og "åhå!"
March 18, 2024
The book only discusses through 4th edition. And some of the essays are difficult to read but it is a good learning book.
August 8, 2024
Very basic. Pretty fun.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews