GamesVisual NovelPro Philosopher 2 is Ace Attorney for our stupid election season, and it really did make me feel betterWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesVisual NovelPro Philosopher 2 is Ace Attorney for our stupid election season, and it really did make me feel betterWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
Ariadne Jones is having theworstnight. Her mom’s on TV campaigning for reelection, and she doesn’t need any reminders of their strained relationship. There’s a loud party downstairs her roommate really thinks it’d be good for her to go to, but she’s an introverted nerd and she has a test tomorrow she can’t study for because of… everything else.
And now she’s just so tired she’s falling asleep, which means she’s gonna wake up in the Intelligible Realm—an afterlife full of dead philosophers. It’s a long story.
Image1of4(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
Image1of4(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
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(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
So, what did I learn from playing a visual novel about political philosophy in the weeks before the third straight “most important election of my lifetime?”
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I certainly learned some specific terms and names I hadn’t ever read directly in intro to philosophy or my history courses, but what’s more important is the game’s lesson that as much as we rely on the past, perhaps no system is truly comprehensive or applicable to every historic moment.
Pro Philosopher 2: Musical Launch Trailer - YouTubeWatch On
Pro Philosopher 2: Musical Launch Trailer - YouTube
Pro Philosopher 2: Musical Launch Trailer - YouTube
Clearly Locke’s Liberal democracy ain’t all it, but the dysfunction apparent in even Fanon’s revolutionary state and Nozick’s libertarian utopias makes her want to give up entirely. And that’s a sentiment I imagine you, reader, are familiar with. Though Americans would blush at having so manyoptionsas Ari (you can choose between Locke or Rawls!), it doesn’t take much time reading U.S. history to feel like representative democracy has never been good enough.
The “final boss” of PP2 is Plato’s Republic—a government of Philosopher Kings. We know, having bested half a dozen of them, that they’re not the infallible paragons of Plato’s original vision. And to win that debate, you must challenge its assumptions not with radical new ideas, but with the contradictions and shortcomings you’ve found in each other philosophy you’ve already debated: alienation, self interest, oligarchy, etc.
Image1of5(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
Image1of5(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
Image1of5
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
(Image credit: Intelligible Games)
To say the absolute least, U.S. politics and philosophy have changed a lot in the 11 years since Intelligible Realms released its first debate sim. Political discourse is more reactionary. Party lines hold while policy shifts right. Alienation and burnout have driven many to anti-capitalist and anti-colonial philosophies, while masculinity-in-crisis has appropriated stoicism (presumably because it comes from ancient Rome).
PP2 has been in development in some form for much of the past decade. The world outside has changed, but the writings have not. Instead, they take on new meaning—like liberal, libertarian, Marxist, democrat, or republican all have. If even an anime Robert Nozick can yield, then I too can recognize contradictions in my own worldview.
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