 First edition | |
| Author | James P. Carse |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Free Press |
Publication date | 1986 |
| ISBN | 0-02-905980-1 |
Finite and Infinite Games is a book by religious scholar James P. Carse. [1]
| First edition | |
| Author | James P. Carse |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Free Press |
Publication date | 1986 |
| ISBN | 0-02-905980-1 |
Finite and Infinite Games is a book by religious scholar James P. Carse. [1]
Carse summarizes his argument, "There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play. Finite games are those instrumental activities - from sports to politics to wars - in which the participants obey rules, recognize boundaries and announce winners and losers. The infinite game - there is only one - includes any authentic interaction, from touching to culture, that changes rules, plays with boundaries and exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game. A finite player seeks power; the infinite one displays self-sufficient strength. Finite games are theatrical, necessitating an audience; infinite ones are dramatic, involving participants...". [2] [3]
Carse continues these conceptualizations across all major spheres of human affairs. He extends his themes broadly over several intellectual arenas that are largely otherwise disparate disciplines. He describes human pursuits as either dramatic (enacted in the present) or theatrical (performed according to a script of some kind). This distinction hinges on an agent's decision to engage in one state of affairs or another. If motherhood is a requirement and a duty, there are rules to be obeyed and goals to be achieved. This is motherhood as theatrical role. If motherhood is a choice and a process, it becomes a living drama.
Finite and Infinite Games received mixed reviews. Howard A. Paul suggested that the book would be valuable in the education of therapists, [4] whereas Francis Kane of the New York Times was critical of the book's premise and logic. [5] Meanwhile technologist Kevin Kelly praised it for "alter[ing] my thinking about life, the universe, and everything." [6] Reviews in Commonweal and Publishers Weekly were more balanced. [7] [8] Theology professor John F. Haught, writing in The Washington Times magazine noted the connection between Carse's book and the works of Søren Kierkegaard, Henri Bergson, René Descartes. [9] Finite and Infinite Games received a mixed review in Kirkus Reviews which stated 'For every (not too original) insight worth remembering ... there's a pair of others too familiar ... or awkward ... to hold our attention'. [10] Philosopher David Chalmers has called it a 'neglected classic in the philosophy of living.' [11]
The Latin cogito, ergo sum, usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am", is the "first principle" of René Descartes's philosophy. He originally published it in French as je pense, donc je suis in his 1637 Discourse on the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have allowed. It later appeared in Latin in his Principles of Philosophy, and a similar phrase also featured prominently in his Meditations on First Philosophy. The dictum is also sometimes referred to as the cogito. As Descartes explained in a margin note, "we cannot doubt of our existence while we doubt." In the posthumously published The Search for Truth by Natural Light, he expressed this insight as dubito, ergo sum, vel, quod idem est, cogito, ergo sum. Antoine Léonard Thomas, in a 1765 essay in honor of Descartes presented it as dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum.
Existentialism is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the issue of human existence. Existentialist philosophers explore questions related to the meaning, purpose, and value of human existence. Common concepts in existentialist thought include existential crisis, dread, and anxiety in the face of an absurd world and free will, as well as authenticity, courage, and virtue.
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on organized religion, Christianity, morality, ethics, psychology, and the philosophy of religion, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony, and parables. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a "single individual", giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment. He was against literary critics who defined idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, and thought that Swedenborg, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling, Schlegel, and Hans Christian Andersen were all "understood" far too quickly by "scholars."
Absurdism is the philosophical theory that the universe is irrational and meaningless. It states that trying to find meaning leads people into a conflict with the world. This conflict can be between rational man and an irrational universe, between intention and outcome, or between subjective assessment and objective worth, but the precise definition of the term is disputed. Absurdism claims that existence as a whole is absurd. It differs in this regard from the less global thesis that some particular situations, persons, or phases in life are absurd.
Fear and Trembling is a philosophical work by Søren Kierkegaard, published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio. The title is a reference to a line from Philippians 2:12, which says to "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." The Philippians verse is sometimes thought to reference Psalm 55:5, which says, "Fear and trembling came upon me."
The Sickness unto Death is a book written by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1849 under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus. A work of Christian existentialism, the book is about Kierkegaard's concept of despair, which he equates with the Christian concept of sin, which he terms "the sin of despair". Walter Lowrie wrote that he saw the themes in The Sickness unto Death as a repetition of those in Kierkegaard’s earlier work, Fear and Trembling, and as being even more closely related to those in The Concept of Anxiety. Kierkegaard used two pseudonyms for opposite purposes: "Johannes Climacus" suggests that he is not a Christian, whereas "Anti-Climacus" suggests he is "an extraordinary Christian".
Robert Merrihew Adams was an American analytic philosopher, who specialized in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, and the history of early modern philosophy.
The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Orienting Deliberation on the Dogmatic Issue of Hereditary Sin is a philosophical work written by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard in 1844.
French philosophy, here taken to mean philosophy in the French language, has been extremely diverse and has influenced Western philosophy as a whole for centuries, from the medieval scholasticism of Peter Abelard, through the founding of modern philosophy by René Descartes, to 20th century philosophy of science, existentialism, phenomenology, structuralism, and postmodernism.
The philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard has been a major influence in the development of 20th-century philosophy, especially existentialism and postmodernism. Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who has been labeled by many as the "Father of Existentialism", although there are some in the field who express doubt in labeling him an existentialist to begin with. His philosophy also influenced the development of existential psychology.
The knight of faith is an individual who has placed complete faith in himself and in God and can act freely and independently from the world. The 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard vicariously discusses the knight of faith in several of his pseudonymous works, with the most in-depth and detailed critique exposited in Fear and Trembling and in Repetition.
The theology of Søren Kierkegaard has been a major influence in the development of 20th century theology. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who has been generally considered the "Father of Existentialism". During his later years (1848–1855), most of his writings shifted from philosophical in nature to religious.
Edifying Discourses in Diverse Spirits is an 1847 book by Søren Kierkegaard. The book is divided into three parts just as Either/Or was in 1843 and many of his other discourses were. Kierkegaard had been working toward creating a place for the concepts of guilt and sin in the conscience of the single individual. He discussed the ideas generated by both Johann von Goethe and Friedrich Hegel concerning reason and nature. This book is his response to the ideas that nature and reason are perfect.
Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected. It typically figures as a rhetorical device and literary technique. In some philosophical contexts, however, it takes on a larger significance as an entire way of life.
Two Upbuilding Discourses is a book by Søren Kierkegaard published in 1843.
Three Upbuilding Discourses (1844) is a book by Søren Kierkegaard.
Four Upbuilding Discourses (1844) is the last of the Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses published during the years 1843–1844 by Søren Kierkegaard. He published three more discourses on "crucial situations in life" in 1845, the situations being confession, marriage, and death. These three areas of life require a "decision made in time".
The Infinite Game is a 2019 book by Simon Sinek, applying ideas from James P. Carse's similarly titled book, Finite and Infinite Games to topics of business and leadership.
A finite game is a two-player game which is assured to end after a finite number of moves. Finite games may have an infinite number of possibilities or even an unbounded number of moves, so long as they are guaranteed to end in a finite number of turns.
For Carse, one may apply this distinction throughout the whole range of human interest and behavior. Most people tend to approach all areas of their lives as finite games. Carse, however, invites us to become players of infinite games.
If there are courses within behaviorally oriented graduate psychology training institutions dealing with the philosophy of therapy or wishing to address the existential base of much of what goes on inside psychotherapy more fully, this book would be a valuable addition to the reading list.
Halfway through this book I became like a viewer of a B movie, rooting for the villain -that hapless finite player.
It is filled with catchy examples and clever twists that force the reader to confront ultimate questions. One might disagree with his premise and therefore not like his conclusion; his argument, nevertheless, is almost irresistible.
Profound and provocative when he is not being glib or pontificating, Carse urges us to become "infinite players," storytellers who can never know the outcome of our own stories.
Though he does not use the traditional expressions "faith" or "idolatry," possibly because such words have lost their punch for many of us, the book is really a subtle and seductive restating of the fundamental options of authentic vs. inauthentic existence previously set forth by the likes of Søren Kierkegaard.... But, as in the case of Bergson and modern existentialism (which seems to have deeply influenced the author), the spirit of Descartes still hovers over Mr. Carse's dichotomies at the same time that Descartes' mechanism is being challenged.
I read things like the Tao Te Ching, The Tao is Silent by Raymond Smullyan, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, philosophical novels by Umberto Eco and Hermann Hesse, and Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse (a neglected classic in the philosophy of living, I think). Somehow all that got me into thinking more and more about philosophy and especially about consciousness.