Extending the Dimensions of the Social World through GameWorlds

Abstract

Alfred Schutzâ s dimensions of the social world was a key component of his phenomenology of the life-world. As Schutz saw it the life-world is arranged around us as its zero-point determined by the â Here and Nowâ we occupy. From there the lifeworld extends into various zones determined by their relation to our â Here and Nowâ in terms of space and time. The dimensions of the social world built up the sort of werelationship that was possible with the Other depending on the zone they occupied within the life-world. Due to the time of his writing, Schutzâ s dimensions could not have factored in the internet and a recent article by Shangyang Zhao (2004) has attempted to extend the dimensions in relation to internet interaction. Building of this, it is the purpose of this paper to extend Schutzâ s dimensions by looking at First Person Shooters. By looking at game-worlds it is possible to highlight two types of we-relationship missing in the current dimensions: the andsociate relation and the consociated contemporary relation.