The ethics of virtual realitySussex

Abstract

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) has a cultural as well as a technical dimension. Culturally, it can be defined as a simulation in which we are invited, or perhaps persuaded, to amend our belief in what is real. VR is significant because it follows artificial intelligence and corresponds to the latest step in the gathering crisis of modern philosophy. There are therefore many problems in developing a code of ethics for VR, but it is possible to adopt pragmatic solutions. For example, it is possible to appeal to past ethical codes, it is possible to propose a philosophy of the artificial and it is possible to re-analyse our present dilemma and assert a humanist philosophy. This latter approach is adopted in this paper and some comments on the form and content of a possible ethics of virtual reality are provided.