6533b7d3fe1ef96bd1260369

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Violent Encounters : The Hobbesian State of Nature in DayZ

Tero Pasanen

subject

yhteiskuntasopimusmoral ambiguityzombie apocalypsefirst-person shooterspermadeath

description

In his seminal work on social contract theory, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes described the anarchic pre-societal condition of the state of nature. In this predicament – aptly named as “the war of all against all” – people lived poor, short and brutish lives. The dystopian world simulated in the survival horror game DayZ mirrors this natural state of man. The game invites players to roleplay survivors of a zombie apocalypse. The present paper examines the factors contributing to pervasive violence, moral ambiguity and degeneration of human condition, which are prominent features of DayZ’s gameplay. The article will situate DayZ into the context of Hobbesian state of nature and explicate elements that render this hypothetical condition perpetual. nonPeerReviewed

http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201708233536