The Grasshopper: Games, Life and UtopiaIn the mid twentieth century the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously asserted that games are indefinable; there are no common threads that link them all. "Nonsense," says the sensible Bernard Suits: "playing a game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles." The short book Suits wrote demonstrating precisely that is as playful as it is insightful, as stimulating as it is delightful. Suits not only argues that games can be meaningfully defined; he also suggests that playing games is a central part of the ideal of human existence, so games belong at the heart of any vision of Utopia. Originally published in 1978, The Grasshopper is now re-issued with a new introduction by Thomas Hurka and with additional material (much of it previously unpublished) by the author, in which he expands on the ideas put forward in The Grasshopper and answers some questions that have been raised by critics. |
Contents
Introduction | 7 |
Preface | 21 |
Acknowledgments | 22 |
The Players | 24 |
Death of the Grasshopper | 25 |
Disciples | 31 |
Construction of a definition | 37 |
Triflers cheats and spoilsports | 57 |
Mountain climbing | 85 |
Reverse English | 89 |
The remarkable career of Porphyryo Sneak | 95 |
The case history of Bartholomew Drag | 109 |
Open games | 119 |
Amateurs professionals and Games People Play | 129 |
Resurrection | 141 |
Resolution | 149 |
Taking the long way home | 61 |
Ivan and Abdul | 67 |
Games and paradox | 77 |
Introduction to the Appendices | 161 |
Wittgenstein in the meadow | 174 |
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Common terms and phrases
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