Survival and ontology: a tentative genealogy of survival in gaming and contemporary philosophy

Abstract

In the popular computer game with the succinct title Raft one continually recovers items and material from the ocean in order to adapt a makeshift vessel, building it to unseen dimensions. As in many other games, survival is experienced as casual and amusing gameplay. In desperate isolation, one is flooded with an overabundance of stuff, mirroring our present consumerist capitalism. This can be taken not only as a symptom of the current atmosphere of dystopian realism and mainstreaming of the survival genre, but also as a productive hint or allegory for philosophy. The seemingly inhuman and desolate ocean is full of things and potential. This is a potential that should of course be extended beyond the primitive accumulation of the Raft, because survival is prevalent not only in pop culture and gaming; we can find it to a similar degree also in contemporary philosophy. We can also categorize the poetic survivalism of new materialist thinkers (Donna Haraway, Rosi Braidotti), “thirst for annihilation” (Nick Land), theorization of current situation as a form of civil war (Alliez and Lazzarato), the (cosmic) pessimism of other speculative thinkers (Quentin Meillassoux, Ray Brassier, Eugene Thacker) or even the pop catastrophism of some ooo proponents (Timothy Morton). In gaming as well as in contemporary thinking, the demand to address the dystopian contours of our time are demands for ontology. Rather than presenting a criticism of these games and theories, we can frame them within such an economy and demand for ontology.

Keywords

• survival
• ontology
• gaming
• contemporary philosophy
• player vs. environment
• post-apocalyptic narration
• dystopia