Tug of Logic, the first Philosophy Sport, is an web-app that serves as virtual infrastructure to philosophical dialogue and civil discourse.
Players work together to establish claims that persuade others. Success at persuading is made instantly visible to all players via shared monitor, allowing for cognitive social feedback.
It is an original competitive-collaborative game that develops logical competencies in a modified debate setting.
Technically, there are various game-formats and several Modes of Play of Tug of Logic. Learn more here.
In general terms, Tug of Logic:
- is played live with 25-30 people, who have phones (or Internet-connected devices)
- game begins with Straw Poll and ends with a Final Poll.
- The Straw Poll sets up a controversial statement (called the MainClaim) for discussion.
- Players enter and debate reasons one at a time; selected reasons are put on display, revisable in real-time, and either earn sufficient voting support or do not (Logic Referee’s call).
- Tug of Logic is animated by a Logic Referee (who runs the Straw Poll to determine whether the MainClaim suits the players present; facilitates discussion on reasons for or against the MainClain; keeps the game on track and brings it to a close). The Logic Referee needs a degree of logical sophistication (relative to the players) and, for large games, an assistant, called Line Judge.
- The game ends with a Final Poll, which identifies winners (i.e., players who during the course of the game changed their mind on the MainClaim). Winners get the last word.
The familiar norms of fair play are a game equivalent of (normative) logic.
