The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy_ I Link Therefore I Am - Luke Cuddy [126]
44
Similarly, the raft and the ladder. The raft allows Link to cross the water and get to another location from a dock, turning a blocked space onto a free space. It is therefore equivalent to the key, but in other context: the overworld of Hyrule and, more precisely, the aquatic areas. The ladder allow us avoid narrow obstacles, precipices or rivers, inside the screen.
45
Quotes are taken from Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations (Malden: Blackwell, 2001), sections 7 and 23.
46
Nowadays “screen” should be applied to the playable space between two level-loading points. Note that the structure sprite-screen-level-map was a good solution to memory shortage and slow processors in old consoles.
47
With the exception of Aaron Smuts who also notes the failure of aesthetics and the philosophy of art to deal with videogames. “Are Videogames Art?” in Contemporary Aesthetics 3 (2005), available at www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299, accessed May 4th, 2008.
48
In Mimesis as Make-Believe (Harvard University Press, 1991), pp. 304-313.
49
Freeplay probably falls somewhere in between ludus and paidia—see Chapter 6 in this volume.
50
“The Ontological Integrity of the Art Object from the Ludic Viewpoint,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 34:3 (1976), pp. 323-336.
51
Actually, Fountain is also transparent since it is an art theory masquerading as an art object. I am grateful to Leon Rosenstein for bringing this to my attention.
52
I acknowledge the importance of Adventure to the development of videogames, but its seminal value in this respect and its value as an art object are two distinct investigations.
53
See George Dickie, “The Myth of the Aesthetic Attitude,” in Phillip Alperson, ed., The Philosophy of the Visual Arts (Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 30-40.
54
See “The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline,” in The Philosophy of the Visual Arts, pp. 469-477.
55
The ideas in this chapter are more fully developed in my dissertation, “Videogames as Art: One Interpretation Using The Legend of Zelda as a Case Study.” Master’s Thesis, San Diego State University, 2008.
56
Robert Fishman, “Utopia in Three Dimensions,” in Utopias (Duckworth, 1984), p. 95.
57
Lewis Mumford, “Utopia, the City, and the Machine,” in Frank Manuel, ed., Utopias and Utopian Thought (London: Souvenir Press, 1973), p. 7.
58
Whether Plato actually believed in equality is a debate that still rages. While Plato believed that women and men had different strengths and weaknesses, some scholars detect misogyny in the words of the Republic and question whether its author believed in true sexual equality. For readers wishing to join the debate, Book V of The Republic, from which this extract comes, is a good place to start.
59
For a more elaborate look at Princess Zelda’s sexuality, see Chapter 19 in this volume.
60
Adding to the charm of this situation is their waiting on their pets’ approval for the match.
61
See Politics, Book VII for more detail.
62
Friedrich Schiller, On the Aesthetic Education of Man (New York: Dover, 2004), p. 27.
63
Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken often about his inspiration for The Legend of Zelda, referring to Hyrule as a “miniature garden.” For a fuller discussion of his creation, it’s worth tracking down the recent fan translation (by Zentendo) on the making of the series: The Video of Zelda: Everything about Zelda.
64
Martha Hale Shackford, “A Definition of the Pastoral Idyll,” PMLA 19:4 (1904), pp. 583-592.
65
The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences (Random House, 1970).
66
Consciousness Explained (Little, Brown, 1991).
67
Prize Essay on the Freedom of the Will (1838; Cambridge University Press, 1999).
68
From this belief Epicurus drew one of the four maxims of his ‘spiritual medicine’ (the so called Tetrafarmakon): Don’t fear gods.
69
Schopenhauer