Colloque - Virtual and Augmented Realities: Epistemological and Metaphysical Issues : Virtual Reality and the Metaverse: Ontology and Ethics

Claudine Tiercelin

Métaphysique et philosophie de la connaissance

Année 2022-2023

Colloque - Virtual and Augmented Realities: Epistemological and Metaphysical Issues : Virtual Reality and the Metaverse: Ontology and Ethics

Intervenant(s)

Philip Brey, University of Twente

Résumé

In this presentation, I will do an ontological analysis of virtual reality, which will form the basis for an ethical analysis. I will present an analysis of what I call virtual ontology: the ontology of virtual environments and the actions and events that take place in them. I will make the case that a key virtual ontology is to distinguish with entities in virtual environments are ontologically real and which are mere simulations. I will argue for the ontological reality of several classes of entities in virtual environments, while denying the reality of others. This ontological analysis will then form the basis for a metaethical analysis of virtual environments, which aims to determine which ethical issues that we know from the physical world also exist in virtual environments, and what their mode of existence is. This analysis will also include an assessment of ethical issues that can exist in virtual environments that have no direct analogue in the physical world.

Présentation

Virtual Reality technology affords its users a strongly immersive and interactive experience of computer-generated environments, through a dedicated headset. With Augmented Reality devices, 3D computer-generated imagery is projected onto physical space, thereby "augmenting" the user's surroundings with an overlay of virtual entities. These "Extended Reality" (XR) technologies are likely to become a part of our everyday life in the near future. They also raise a host of fascinating issues, which have increasingly been discussed in the recent philosophical literature. This international conference will investigate the metaphysical and epistemological questions raised by XR technologies.

Le colloque est intégralement en anglais et a eu lieu les 5 et 6 juin au Collège de France