Halo and Philosophy Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  UNSC Briefing

  Acknowledgements

  Eliminate Hostile Anti-Intellectual Units

  Easy . . . er

  Chapter 1 - Who Is Master Chief?

  The Same but Different

  Making It Personal

  A Psyche Connection

  Mastering the Chief

  Chapter 2 - Master Chief and the Meaning of Life

  The Spartan Warrior

  What Did They Die For?

  The Anti-Hero

  The Myth of Sisyphus

  The Stoic Warrior

  Chapter 3 - Why Plato Wants You to Play Halo

  Context of Platonic Ethics in Halo: Education

  Plato on the Attack

  Halo as Mimesis

  All bad? No

  Ironic Killtacular

  What about the Violence?

  Guardian Training

  Chapter 4 - Does Cortana Dream of Electric Sheep?

  I Was Gonna Shoot My Way Out. Mix Things Up a Little

  The Right Man in the Wrong Place Can Make All the Difference

  This War Has Enough Dead Heroes

  Politics . . . How Tiresome

  Just Dust and Echoes

  Normal

  Chapter 5 - The Initiatory Journey to Legendary Play

  I Was Once Wrong about Halo . . .

  The Real Halo Begins in Heroic Mode

  Learning and Unlearning

  Halo as a Game Design Lesson

  My Only Two Weapons

  My Two Unforgettable Moments

  Uncertainty, the Dark Side of Learning

  Chapter 6 - Halo and Music

  Cracks Begin to Appear . . .

  The Incompatibility of Music and Interactivity

  Music According to Whom?

  Music the Halo Way

  A Musical Soundscape

  Sound, Music, and Vision

  Chapter 7 - Personal Identity in Blood Gulch

  Welcome to Blood Gulch. Meet the Red Team

  Thought Experiments in Philosophy

  AIs and Personal Identity in RvB

  Project Freelancer

  Where Parfit Went Wrong

  Chapter 8 - Enlightenment through Halo’s Possible Worlds

  Possible Worlds

  Fuck This Game!

  Upaya and the Parable of the Burning House

  The Parable of the Burning Halo

  Master Chief as Bodhisattva: More Buddhism

  Immersion, Anger, and Compassion

  Halo as a Catalyst for a Buddhism Videogame?

  Heroic

  Chapter 9 - Apocalypse Halo

  God the Programmer

  The Halo Mythos

  Havoc on the Earth

  Apocalyptic Themes in Halo

  Master Chief the Messiah

  Judgment of the Players

  Otherworldly Mediators

  Otherworldly Journeys

  The End Times

  False Identity

  Apocalyptic Angst

  Videogame Apocalypses and Secularism

  Chapter 10 - The Plasma Grenade Is the New Razor Blade

  Nerdrage and Me

  Pull The Pin. You Know You Want To

  Remember Me?

  No One Knows Who Threw that Nade

  My Avatar and Me

  Who? Me?

  Chapter 11 - Playing with Fantasies in the Spartan (Sub)Consciousness

  Playing with the Future

  When the Screen Stares Back

  Does the Covenant Have a Personality?

  There Is No “I” in Halo

  The Challenge to (Dis)connect

  Chapter 12 - What’s Wrong with Camping?

  Equivocation

  Camping and Strategy

  Camping, Context, and Evaluation

  Spawn Camping

  Covering Values

  ResPwn

  Turnabout’s Fair Play

  Legendary

  Chapter 13 - Sandbox Confrontations

  Knight Errant + Walking Death-mobile = Master Chief

  Silence of Master Chief

  Master Chief’s Weapons

  A Less Idealized Soldier for a More Desperate Time

  Absolute War and Total War

  Rookie and Chief

  Silence of the Rookie

  Chapter 14 - What Would Foucault Think about Speed Runs, Jeep Jumps, and Zombie?

  Aesthetic Self-Fashioning

  Expansive Gameplay

  Expansive Gameplay as Metaphor

  Expansive Gameplay as Practice of Freedom

  Expansive Gameplay as Simulation

  Chapter 15 - Would Cortana Pass the Turing Test?

  What Is Artificial Intelligence?

  Can Machines Think?

  Believable Intelligence

  Just because It Acts Intelligent, Doesn’t Mean It Is

  The Seagull Test

  Machines Don’t Have Our Background

  Innovations in Storytelling

  Introducing a New World

  Death in Games

  Mind Control

  Would Cortana Pass the Turing Test?

  UNSC Debriefing

  UNSC Personnel

  Index

  Copyright Page

  Popular Culture and Philosophy® Series Editor: George A. Reisch

  VOLUME 1

  Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)

  VOLUME 2

  The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer (2001)

  VOLUME 3

  The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)

  VOLUME 4

  Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)

  VOLUME 5

  The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)

  VOLUME 9

  Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)

  VOLUME 12

  Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)

  VOLUME 13

  Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)

  VOLUME 17

  Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Thinking) (2006)

  VOLUME 18

  Harley-Davidson and Philosophy: Full-Throttle Aristotle (2006)

  VOLUME 19

  Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)

  VOLUME 24

  Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006)

  VOLUME 25

  The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Can’t Be Thunk (2006)

  VOLUME 26

  South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007) Edited by Richard Hanley

  VOLUME 28

  The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007) Edited by Steven Gimbel

  VOLUME 29

  Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy: How to Philosophize with a Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch (2007) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad

  VOLUME 30

  Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007) Edited by George A. Reisch

  VOLUME 31

  Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (2008) Edited by John Huss and David Werther

  VOLUME 32

  Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Doug Anderson

  VOLUME 33

  Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin

&
nbsp; VOLUME 34

  iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

  VOLUME 35

  Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker

  VOLUME 36

  The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy

  VOLUME 37

  The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng

  VOLUME 38

  Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009) Edited by Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch

  VOLUME 39

  Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt

  VOLUME 40

  Transformers and Philosophy (2009) Edited by John Shook and Liz Stillwaggon Swan

  VOLUME 41

  Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I Am Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller

  VOLUME 42

  Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer

  VOLUME 43

  The Golden Compass and Philosophy: God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison

  VOLUME 44

  Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef

  VOLUME 45

  World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger

  Volume 46

  Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

  Volume 47

  Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin

  VOLUME 48

  The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber

  VOLUME 49

  Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad

  VOLUME 50

  Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

  VOLUME 51

  Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (2010) Edited by Ted Richards

  VOLUME 52

  Manga and Philosophy: Fullmetal Metaphysician (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman

  VOLUME 53

  Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young

  VOLUME 54

  The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True, Alleges Indignant Area Professor (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye

  VOLUME 55

  Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside (2010) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka

  VOLUME 56

  Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of the Mentat (2011) Edited by Jeffery Nicholas

  VOLUME 57

  Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United (2011) Edited by Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman

  VOLUME 58

  Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter (2011) Edited by Richard Greene, George A. Reisch, and Rachel Robison-Greene

  VOLUME 58

  Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (2011) Edited by Luke Cuddy

  IN PREPARATION:

  SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy (2011) Edited by Joseph Foy

  Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy (2011) Edited by Josef Steiff

  Philip K. Dick and Philosophy (2011) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

  Inception and Philosophy (2011) Edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein

  Breaking Bad and Philosophy (2012) Edited by David R. Koepsell

  Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Mark Ralkowski

  The Rolling Stones and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Luke Dick and George A. Reisch

  For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy® books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com.

  To Bungie,

  for putting out one of the greatest

  First Person Shooter series

  of all time

  UNSC Briefing

  FRED VAN LENTE

  Rereading Thoreau’s Walden at the same time as the chapters in this collection, I was struck by Backwoods Hank’s assertion that “To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.”

  When it comes to simple living, the most beggarly ascetic has nothing on Master Chief, the armored hero of Microsoft’s Halo video game series. “See the Covenant, shoot the Covenant” (or, from time to time, The Flood) pretty well sums up both his raison d’être and the only a priori knowledge before a gamer picks up an Xbox controller to propel him towards his enemies.

  In many ways game developer Bungie’s genius in its creation of Halo can be summed up in the conception of this character, the quintessential player’s cat’s paw. While most narrative shooters have some square-jawed heroic type for the user to both identify with and embody, John-117 (Nerd Alert! Master Chief’s given name) is both unique and generic in equal measure. His faceless visage is recognized the world over, yet still only the broadest outline of a human being inside his bulky MJOLNIR exo-skeleton which the player can fill with his or her own expectations and desires. At some point during the series a sex-specific pronoun or his name is evoked, thus saddling him with a gender; but entombed in that green shell he has no noticeable sexual characteristics. Since we never see him outside the carapace he has no demonstrable race or age. Most of the dialogue in the game is borne by Chief’s glowing cybernetic AI Tinkerbell, Cortana; but when he does speak, it’s in the unforgettable tones of Chicago DJ Steve Downes.

  Everything else that is Master Chief is provided by the gamer, whether choosing to use the magnum or the AR to blow away Grunts, and any other thoughts or opinions that may manifest during the course of the ensuing fragfest. Indeed, he and the gamer come to life at literally the same time in Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game, as Chief is awakened from cryogenic sleep and taught how his MJOLNIR works, which cleverly teaches the gamer the configuration of his controller at the same time. Master Chief’s life is not lived until the guiding force of the user is grafted onto his otherwise empty shell—not just an unexamined life, but an unconscious one.

  As the gamer animates Master Chief in Halo: Combat Evolved, so Halo and Philosophy illuminates this video game series with a spark from history’s great thinkers. As with many of the topics covered in the Popular Culture and Philosophy series, I imagine there will be some perfunctory hand-wringing over whether or not a First Person Shooter is an appropriate subject for serious critical study, blah, blah, blah. But if the unexamined life isn’t worth living, then the unexamined game isn’t worth playing; or, to turn that configuration on its head, a game worth playing is also worthy of being examined. And with worldwide sales of Halo merchandise reaching nearly two billion dollars as of this writing, Master Chief and friends (and enemies, particularly his enemies) are worth quite a bit to the Microsoft corporation and their legions of fans.

  To speak in Aristotelian terms, if Halo the game takes Master Chief from a potential kicker of alien ass to an actual one, the authors of Halo and Philosophy take the actual game series and examine its social, political, and philosophical potential. It is a worthy goal, and I hope you enjoy reading these thought-provoking essays as much as I did.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to the folks at Open Court for their judgment, and to the authors for their fine contributions and superb Halo gaming experiences. Thanks also to Jason Vandusen of Vandusen design .

  Eliminate Hostile Anti-Intellectual Units

  LUKE CUDDY

  When I play Halo: Combat Evolved and walk through the halls and passageways of the Pillar of Autumn it reminds me of DukeNukem 3D in its cold, futuristic splendor. But when I think of Hal
o, I also think of Doom. While I realize there are other obvious precursors to Halo (like Half Life, Quake, or Bungie’s own Marathon) it’s Doom that drew me into the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre as a teenager. Playing Halo sometimes takes me back to those days when a bad day at school would lead to hours of incinerating monsters with a Rocket Launcher or tearing through them with a Double Barrel Shotgun.

  But is Halo just another mindless FPS, inclining its players towards aggression and desensitization (and stoking popular worries about what FPS games do to teenagers)? While Halo is violent, it sometimes gets a worse rap than it deserves. The Halo series has a more complex story than many others, taking elements of that story from science fiction, as we will see. Within gaming, Halo has paved the way for some newer games—Borderlands, for example, draws from Halo’s gun limitation. There is more to Halo than meets the eye philosophically as well. Watching a group of drunken males play a round of multiplayer doesn’t do justice to the deeper philosophical issues that surround and inhabit Halo and Halo culture, from personal identity, to the Western notion of salvation, to elements of Buddhism.

  Halo’s Roots in Science Fiction Literature

  In the first level of the first game of the series, Halo: Combat Evolved, you are introduced to one of the Halo structures from which the game gets its name. In fact, it’s the first thing you see when you start playing the game: a backdrop of a planet in space with the ring-like formation in front of it. Such a ring-like formation was most famously fictionalized by Larry Niven in his Hugowinning book Ringworld, which was succeeded by two other books to make a trilogy. Here Niven helps the reader conceptualize what he calls a “ringworld” (taking his inspiration from the concept of a partial Dyson sphere): “Take Christmas ribbon, pale blue and an inch wide, the kind you use to wrap presents. Set a lighted candle on a bare floor. Take fifty feet of ribbon, and string it in a circle with the candle at the center, balancing the ribbon on the edge so that the inner side catches the candle light.”1 You might think that a structure like this would be too thin, or too small, to sustain an atmosphere or for many people to live on. But scale is important and, as one of the characters in the book points out: “That’s what it’s all about. Six hundred trillion square miles of surface area is three million times the surface of the Earth. It’d be like having three million worlds all mapped flat and joined edge to edge” (p. 71).