{"id":1023793,"date":"2026-01-13T15:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bLmjaV9awDeLfFc2zU4RXS"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:03:18","slug":"pro-philosopher-2-is-ace-attorney-for-our-stupid-election-season-and-it-really-did-make-me-feel-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/pro-philosopher-2-is-ace-attorney-for-our-stupid-election-season-and-it-really-did-make-me-feel-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro Philosopher 2 is Ace Attorney for our stupid election season, and it really did make me feel better"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ariadne Jones is having the worst<\/em> night. Her mom\u2019s on TV campaigning for reelection, and she doesn\u2019t need any reminders of their strained relationship. There\u2019s a loud party downstairs her roommate really thinks it\u2019d be good for her to go to, but she\u2019s an introverted nerd and she has a test tomorrow she can\u2019t study for because of\u2026 everything else.<\/p>\n

And now she\u2019s just so tired she\u2019s falling asleep, which means she\u2019s gonna wake up in the Intelligible Realm\u2014an afterlife full of dead philosophers. It\u2019s a long story.<\/p>\n

Developed by Seattle-based Intelligible Games\u2014a self described “nights-and-weekends” studio of Riot, Bungie, and ArenaNet veterans\u2014Pro Philosopher 2<\/a> is a follow up to 2013\u2019s Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher. <\/em>Mechanically identical with an updated art style that has matured from webcomic to visual novel status, the sequel is about Ari\u2019s journey through the “philosophical afterlife” to save her (maybe dead?) mom ahead of her reelection, where she must debate her way through great political thinkers from Confucius to Nozick<\/a> who have shaped society through centuries of galaxy brain ideas. Along the way she has to find an answer to the ideal form of government and convince her mom that\u2014like liberal democracy\u2014she\u2019s not perfect, actually, but also that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an outrageous premise that\u2019s executed artfully. From the anime-esque caricatures of its cast of philosophers (picture John Locke<\/a> with Bishie sparkles) to contemporary memes (not just Hamilton references, but those too) to the comedic voice and personality that matches each philosopher’s vision, the game remains humorous and lighthearted by avoiding anything too<\/em> specific as to be a sore spot for American players dealing with their own election season anxiety. The problems are all general issues we\u2019d recognize from any nostalgic era of politics past.<\/p>\n

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Pro Philosopher 2 shares more in common with deduction-based visual novels like Ace Attorney than the collegiate sport the most obnoxious men you know did in undergrad. Play consists of asking questions and finding challenges to the premises of your opponents’ arguments. Knowing all your fallacies will help, but really you just need to follow the line of reasoning and see where it snags\u2014an assumption, a leap, a tangent, a knot that needs to be unwound and then challenged piece by piece.<\/p>\n

Debates are won by proving your opponent’s logic unsound, finding the contradiction in an ostensibly perfect system rather than somehow proving them bad or wrong. Ari\u2019s takedown of Machiavelli\u2019s tyranny is not rooted in why torturing your political opponents is, like, bad<\/em>, but in how it\u2019s an unstable framework that cannot ever actually provide the stability its promises. Similarly, you can beat Fanon<\/a> in an argument by teasing out the ways in which his philosophy may fail to establish a stable post-revolutionary government.<\/p>\n

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?”<\/p>\n

I certainly learned some specific terms and names I hadn\u2019t ever read directly in intro to philosophy or my history courses, but what\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

A recurring problem in each philosophy is how leaders are chosen and how historically marginalized groups could access education, power, and leadership. But the goal of reelection, or holding power, is not the same as making society better<\/em>\u2014that being the ultimate fantasy of the Intelligible Realm. By the time Ari bests Fanon, her senator mom, Pythia (a deep cut<\/a>), is having a full-on crisis of faith.<\/p>\n

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