The Grasshopper
Douban
Games, Life and Utopia
Bernard Suits
résumé
In the mid twentieth century the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously asserted that games are indefinable; there are no common threads that link them all. “Nonsense,” said 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. Through the jocular voice of Aesop’s Grasshopper, a “shiftless but thoughtful practitioner of applied entomology,” 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, and so games belong at the heart of any vision of Utopia.
This new edition of The Grasshopper includes illustrations from Frank Newfeld created for the book’s original publication, as well as an introduction by Thomas Hurka and a new appendix on the meaning of ‘play.’
contents
Introduction
Preface
Acknowledgements
The Players
Chapter One: Death of the Grasshopper
Chapter Two: Disciples
Chapter Three: Construction of a definition
Chapter Four: Triflers, cheats, and spoilsports
Chapter Five: Taking the long way home
Chapter Six: Ivan and Abdul
Chapter Seven: Games and paradox
Chapter Eight: Mountain climbing
Chapter Nine: Reverse English
Chapter Ten: The remarkable career of Porphyryo Sneak
Chapter Eleven: The case history of Bartholomew Drag
Chapter Twelve: Open games
Chapter Thirteen: Amateurs, professionals, and Games People Play
Chapter Fourteen: Resurrection
Chapter Fifteen: Resolution
Appendix One: The fool on the hill
Appendix Two: Wittgenstein in the meadow
Appendix Three: Words on play
Permissions Acknowledgments
