Grant Tavinor
Grant Tavinor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973 |
| Died | August 13, 2025 (aged 51–52) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | philosophy |
Sub-discipline | philosophy of art |
| Institutions | Lincoln University |
Notable works | The Art of Videogames |
Grant Tavinor (1973 – August 13, 2025) was a New Zealand academic and philosopher of art. Tavinor wrote about the aesthetics, philosophy, and ethics of digital technology, videogames and virtual reality. His book The Art of Videogames (2009) is considered a foundational work in the field. Tavinor was a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Lincoln University where he taught from 2003-2025, and an Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in 2022.
Early life and education
Tavinor was born in Whangarei.[1] He attended the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, where he received a BA(Hons), and the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand, where he completed his PhD.[2]
Career
Tavinor joined Lincoln University in New Zealand as a Lecturer in Philosophy in 2003. Tavinor was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2014, remaining in this position in the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design until his death in 2025.[2][1] He was an Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in 2022.[1]
Tavinor served on Lincoln University's Human Ethics Committee for 14 years, chairing the committee from 2014-2024. He received the Vice-Chancellor's "Recognition of Service" award for his contributions.[1]
Works
Tavinor's first book, The Art of Videogames (2009) is considered a foundational work in the aesthetics of videogames.[1][3] In it he argued that video games are a new form of representational art, providing "an active exploratory aesthetics" involving "the representation of the player, their agency, and their aesthetic experiences, within a fictional world." He addressed the philosophical questions of "What is a game?" and "What is art?", considering videogames in terms of fiction, narrative, emotion, and morality. Giving videogames a conceptual foundation, Tavinor defined them disjunctively:[4]
“X is a videogame if it is an artifact in a visual digital medium, is intended as an object of entertainment, and is intended to provide such entertainment through the employment of one or both of the following modes of engagement: rule and objective gameplay or interactive fiction.” [4]
Tavinor edited the first anthology of essays on videogame aesthetics, The Aesthetics of Videogames (2018), with Jon Robson.[5][6] He also wrote The Aesthetics of Virtual Reality (2021).[7][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "AAP - Remembering Grant Tavinor". Australasian Association of Philosophy Newsletter. 7 October 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ^ a b Weinberg, Justin (19 September 2025). "Grant Tavinor (1973-2025) - Daily Nous". Daily Nous. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ^ "In Memory of Grant Tavinor | Game Philosophy Network". Game Philosophy Network. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ^ a b Cuddy, Luke (November 2011). "The Art of Videogames by tavinor, grant". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 69 (4): 430–433. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6245.2011.01485_8.x.
- ^ "Bio: BIO Dr Grant Tavinor". Lincoln University. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ^ Cray, Wesley D. (2018). "The Aesthetics of Videogames (Review)". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
- ^ van de Mosselaer, Nele (September 2022). "Review of "The Aesthetics of Virtual Reality"". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 80 (4): 513–516. doi:10.1093/jaac/kpac047. ISSN 0021-8529.
- ^ "Grant Tavinor (Lincoln University) - PhilPeople". philpeople.org. Retrieved 24 April 2026.