17 min

Epistemic Puzzles in ‘The Witness’ – Luke Cuddy Parsing Science: The unpublished stories behind the world’s most compelling science, as told by the researchers themselves.

    • Natural Sciences

What can a video game teach us about our epistemic philosophy? In episode 93, Luke Cuddy from Southwestern College’s philosophy program talks with us about the video game The Witness, which presents players with a multitude of increasingly sophisticated and frustrating puzzles that perhaps result from the theory of knowledge it reflects. His chapter "The Witness as Philosophy: How Knowledge Is Constructed," was published on July 21, 2020 in The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy.



Epistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke Cuddy Epistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke Cuddy {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7678 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7678",embed_code:""

,enable_embed_button:"on",php_retriever:"https://www.parsingscience.org/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_7678_72",settings_ap7678); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

 

Websites and other resources











Luke's blog, YouTube channel, and Medium site

Luke's book Legend of Zelda and Philosophy

Jonathan Blow's blog

Adam Ruins Everything: Game Designer Jonathan Blow Unpacks ‘The Witness’

The Witness (official website)

In-game video of The Witness:













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzNh-hdceiU



 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aevy5Mv_ImQ



 

Bonus Clips





Clips available include ...

Full episode with available download

More coming soon





🔊 Access bonus content here.







Make a one-time donation via PayPal.







Or support us for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Cancel anytime.

We’re not a registered tax-exempt organization, so unfortunately gifts aren't tax deductible.

Hosts / Producers

Doug Leigh & Ryan Watkins

How to Cite

Leigh,

What can a video game teach us about our epistemic philosophy? In episode 93, Luke Cuddy from Southwestern College’s philosophy program talks with us about the video game The Witness, which presents players with a multitude of increasingly sophisticated and frustrating puzzles that perhaps result from the theory of knowledge it reflects. His chapter "The Witness as Philosophy: How Knowledge Is Constructed," was published on July 21, 2020 in The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy.



Epistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke Cuddy Epistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke CuddyEpistemic Puzzles in 'The Witness' - Luke Cuddy {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7678 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7678",embed_code:""

,enable_embed_button:"on",php_retriever:"https://www.parsingscience.org/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_7678_72",settings_ap7678); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

 

Websites and other resources











Luke's blog, YouTube channel, and Medium site

Luke's book Legend of Zelda and Philosophy

Jonathan Blow's blog

Adam Ruins Everything: Game Designer Jonathan Blow Unpacks ‘The Witness’

The Witness (official website)

In-game video of The Witness:













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzNh-hdceiU



 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aevy5Mv_ImQ



 

Bonus Clips





Clips available include ...

Full episode with available download

More coming soon





🔊 Access bonus content here.







Make a one-time donation via PayPal.







Or support us for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Cancel anytime.

We’re not a registered tax-exempt organization, so unfortunately gifts aren't tax deductible.

Hosts / Producers

Doug Leigh & Ryan Watkins

How to Cite

Leigh,

17 min