Week 8 (10) FINAL

Question 1

Definitions matter (or so Wolfe claims). Give an example that is meant to illustrate the point

Answer 1

1. insurance lawsuit: was 9/11 attack one event or two - did the guy deserve insruance pay for just 9/11 or were the two planes two seperate attacks/events
2. holes: if there was a hole in the ballot it counts. But what is a hole? Was an indentation sufficient?

Question 2

What is a ‘family resemblance’ term? What do family resemblances have to do with Wittgenstein’s understanding of ‘game?’

Answer 2

Game 1 will have properties ABC, game 2 will have BCD, game 3 will have CDE, and game 4 will have DEF. Although game 1 and game 4 have no properties in common, they have resemblence to other things we call games and are therefore also called a game.

Wittgenstein says there’s no definition of game to be found because there is no essence that unifies all games

Question 3

What is Suits’ definition of ‘game?’

Answer 3

a game is an activity that brings about a specific state of affairs (winning when the rules of the game are followed), using means only permittable by the rules, where the rules prohibit more efficient in favour of less efficient means (rules must make barriers to prevent the most straight forward way to accomplish a goal, ex. you cant punch defenders to get to the goal), and where these rules are accepted just because they make such possible activity

Simply: games are a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles

Question 4

What is the difference between an ‘internal rule’ and an external rule, according to Suits?

Answer 4

Internal rule = if the reason you follow it is just to be able to play the game (ex. you only kick the ball in soccer because if you picked it up, it’s no longer soccer)

External rule= you follow the rule for other reasons, not just because it allows you to play the game (ex. you don’t punch as hard as possible in boxing, because then you would kill them, and thou shall not kill is not just a boxing rule)

Question 5

What does it mean to say that a definition is too broad? What does it mean to say that a definition is too narrow?

Answer 5

too broad= includes stuff that is not part of the definition (ex. if suits definition includes stuff that is not games)
Too narrow = does not include stuff that is part of the defintion (ex. if Suits definition does not include a game)

Question 6

How does the Atlantic Magazine define ‘sport?’

Answer 6

1. people compete in it
2. computers can’t do it
3. aesthetics don’t count

Question 7

According to Wolfe, there are at least two counterexamples to Suits’ definition of ‘game.’ Identify and describe one of them (or provide a counterexample of your own).

Answer 7

1. proof that def. is too narrow: seeing who can collect data for an exeriment the fastest (this is not a game, but one would say ‘lets make a game out of this’)
2. proof that def. is too broad: a family opening presents in a specific order and must sing a song. This is not a game

Question 8

Why do Jenny et al. claim that the general public will be reluctant to accept that eSports are sports?

Answer 8

• because it is sedentary, and right now sports include gross motor movements
• until they are able to track gross motor movements in eSport, the public will be reluctant to consider it a sport