The Relationship between Imagination and Consumption in Computer Games

Imagination is a very important term which is frequently used in both Islamic and contemporary philosophies. Many of the characteristics of human beings and the periods succeeding classical schools of philosophy can be interpreted with reference to the imaginal aspect of human existence. In Mulla Sadra’s view, some aspects of the world of imagination can change depending on the differences among human beings. Consumerism and the realization of consumer society are also considered to be among the most important features of the contemporary world so that the cultural values of people seem to have been influenced by the necessities of consumer societies. In their common sense, games primarily and essentially deal with imagination, too. Given the status of today’s human being and the relationship between games and a non-transcendent and consumer imagination, computer games can be viewed as an important embodiment of two elements of non-transcendent imagination and consumerism. What makes them susceptible to such as interpretation is their technological essence. In fact, in its technological and media form, games represent a limitless form of consumerism and embody an absurd kind of imagination which are rooted in mathematical thinking.