Stefano Gualeni

Base

Country

Malta

Institutional affiliation

Institute of Digital Games – University of Malta

Title

Associate Professor

Research interests relevant to game philosophy

My academic work takes place at the intersections of continental philosophy and the design of virtual worlds.
Given the practical and interdisciplinary focus of my research – and depending on the topics and the resources at hand – my output takes the form of academic texts and/or of interactive digital experiences. As a philosopher who designs digital games and a game designer who is passionate about philosophy, I study virtual worlds in their role as mediators: as interactive, artificial environments where ideas, world-views, and thought-experiments can be encountered, manipulated, and communicated experientially.

Most of my academic output looks at virtual worlds as instruments to prefigure and design ourselves and our worlds, and as gateways to experience alternative possibilities of being.

Publications and presentations relevant to game philosophy

– Gualeni, S. & Vella, D. 2020. Virtual Existentialism: Meaning and Subjectivity in Virtual Worlds. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Pivot.

– Gualeni, S. 2015. Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools: How to Philosophize with a Digital Hammer. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

For the complete list of my academic works, please check http://www.gua-le-ni.com/papers

Keywords

Philosophy of Technology, Heidegger, Existentialism, Virtual Worlds research, Game Design

Name

Stefano Gualeni

Background

Game Design, Virtual Worlds Research, Existentialism, Game Studies, the Philosophy of Technology