Table Of ContentThe Ethics of Virtual and
Augmented Reality
Thisbookoffersnewwaysofthinkingaboutandassessingtheimpactofvirtual
realityonitsusers.Itargues thatwemustgobeyondtraditionalpsychological
concepts of VR “presence” to better understand the many varieties of virtual
experiences.
TheauthorprovidescompellingevidencethatVRsimulationsarecapableof
producing“virtuallyreal”experiencesinpeople.Healsoprovidesaframework
forunderstandingwhenandhowsimulationsinducevirtuallyrealexperiences.
Fromtheseinsights,thebookshowsthatvirtuallyrealexperiencesarerespon-
siblefor severalunaddressedethical issuesinVRresearchand design.Experi-
mentalphilosophers,moralpsychologists,andinstitutionalreviewboardsmust
become sensitive to the ethical issues involved between designing “realistic”
virtualdilemmas,forgooddatacollection,andavoidingvirtuallyrealtrauma.
Ethicists and game designers must do more to ensure that their simulations
don’t inculcate harmful character traits. Virtually real experiences, the author
claims, can make virtual relationships meaningful, productive, and conducive
towelfarebuttheycanalsobeusedtosystematicallymisleadandmanipulate
usersaboutthenatureoftheirexperiences.
The Ethics of Virtual and Augmented Reality will appeal to philosophers
working in applied ethics, philosophy of technology, and aesthetics, as well
as researchers and students interested in game studies and game design.
Erick Jose Ramirez is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara
University, USA.
Routledge Research in Applied Ethics
The Ethics of Eating Animals
Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible
Bob Fischer
Self-Defense, Necessity, and Punishment
A Philosophical Analysis
Uwe Steinhoff
Ethics and Error in Medicine
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Sandra L. Borden
Care Ethics and the Refugee Crisis
Emotions, Contestations, and Agency
Marcia Morgan
Corporate Responsibility and Political Philosophy
Exploring the Social Liberal Corporation
Kristian Høyer Toft
The Ethics of War and the Force of Law
A Modern Just War Theory
Uwe Steinhoff
Sexual Ethics in a Secular Age
Is There Still a Virtue of Chastity?
Edited by Eric J. Silverman
The Ethics of Virutal and Augmented Reality
Building Worlds
Erick Jose Ramirez
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
com/Routledge-Research-in-Applied-Ethics/book-series/RRAES
The Ethics of Virtual and
Augmented Reality
Building Worlds
Erick Jose Ramirez
Firstpublished2022
byRoutledge
605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158
andbyRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninforma
business
©2022Taylor&Francis
TherightofErickJoseRamireztobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproduced
orutilizedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,
orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
writingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Ramirez,ErickJose,author.
Title:Theethicsofvirtualandaugmentedreality:buildingworlds/Erick
JoseRamirez.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2022.|
Series:Routledgeresearchinappliedethics|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2021038403(print)|LCCN2021038404(ebook)|
ISBN9780367486266(hardback)|ISBN9781003042228(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Virtualreality--Moralandethicalaspects.|
Augmentedreality--Moralandethicalaspects.|
Virtualreality--Philosophy.|Reality--Philosophy.
Classification:LCCQA76.9.V5R352022(print)|
LCCQA76.9.V5(ebook)|DDC006.8--dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021038403
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2021038404
ISBN:978-0-367-48626-6(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-032-18147-9(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-003-04222-8(ebk)
DOI:10.4324/9781003042228
TypesetinSabon
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
1 Exploring Strange New Worlds 1
2 Imagination and the Limits of Empathy 14
3 When Being There Is Not Enough 44
4 Virtual Experience, Real Harm 70
5 Why It’s Unethical to Use VR and AR as “Empathy” Machines 99
6 Putting It All Together: A Code of Ethics for VR/AR 133
7 AR and the Future of Selves 162
Index 202
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Varieties of empathy 23
3.1 Virtually Real Experiences (VREs) 65
7.1 The XR spectrum 166
Table
6.1 A code of ethics for VR/AR 141
Acknowledgements
This book is the product of many conversations with incredible people.
It, quite literally, would not exist without them. If there are especially
interesting sections in this book, it’s almost certainly because of ideas
exchanged with others. If there are sections of the book where arguments
are less than good, that’s probably a topic I should have spoken more
with others about.
I want to thank my colleagues at Santa Clara University, especially Scott
LaBarge and Larry Nelson, both of whom I’ve co-authored work with.
Thanks also to Meilin Chinn for several wonderful conversations about
action and perception. They too made their way into this book. I was
extraordinarily lucky to have had Shannon Vallor (now at the Edinburgh
Futures Institute)asamentor whenwe wereboth atSanta ClaraUniversity.
Thank you, Shannon, for being an excellent role model. I’ve also co-
authored some work with my friend Per Milam. It was a stroke of amazing
luck that Per and I ended up at UCSD for graduate school and I’m positive
I’m getting the better of our partnership.
I've had the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with people whose
work I distinctly admire and would like to acknowledge here. Andrew
Kissel arranged a fantastic panel session at the virtual 2021 Pacific Meeting
of the APA that included myself, Kathryn Francis, and Melissa McDonald
centered on VR, where I was exposed to a lot of useful ideas (and a new
collaborator). Javiera Perez-Gomez, Jordan Wallace-Wolf, and Nick Harri-
son have all given me helpful feedback on my VR and AR work at various
conferences. Javiera in particular has also co-organized the Latinx Philoso-
phy Conference where I’ve shared my work on several occasions. I thank
audiences there and elsewhere for engaging with the ideas in this book.
Allof the VR simulationscoming out of our experimentalphilosophyVR
lab were created in collaboration with students at Santa Clara University
including Miles Elliott, Carl Maggio, Mohit Gandhi, Lia Petronio, Dorian
Clay, Kendall Moore, and Shelby Jennett. I’m consistently humbled by their
ingenuity, talent, and philosophical acumen. Miles, Lia, Mohit, and I, in
collaboration with Jocelyn Tan (another SCU alumna) have also fruitfully
collaborated on written work, and I hope to continue working with them.
viii Acknowledgements
Funding andsupportforthisprojecthascomefromseveralsources.Brian
Green, Irina Raicu, and the rest of the folks at the Markkula Center for
Applied Ethics have lent me intellectual and financial help throughout my
career. Thanks to them for encouraging me to continue working on VR and
ARethicsandfortheirfriendship.MyearlyworkonVRwouldalsonothave
beenpossiblewithoutgrantsfromOculus EducationandtheAmerican Philo-
sophicalAssociation.It’sbeenapleasureworkingwithAndrewWeckenmann
andAllieSimmonsatRoutledgeonthisproject.
Last, and most importantly, I want to thank my partner Maggie Levan-
tovskaya and my parents Luis Ramirez and Leslie Delagneau for their love
and support. Los quiero muchísimo.
1 Exploring Strange New Worlds
It’sawarm,not-too-hot,summerday.Aslightbreezewaftsthroughtheair,
hitting my face. I’m writing this paragraph while lying on a chic outdoor
sofa on the terrace of a mid-century home in the Hollywood Hills. Los
Angelessprawlsbelow.Fromhere,theviewsareperfect.IfIlooktomyleft,
I see downtown, with all of its construction cranes. To my right, I see
Century City. Even Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean are visible, a pretty
raresightreally consideringthehazeofthe summer.Takingmyeyesoffthis
view for a second, I tap on a menu to move the 55-inch monitor I’m writing
this paragraph on so that it floats more conveniently above my head. I shift
my attention back to my work and write a few emails while listening to
music.
Then I feel something touch my feet. It’s the very specific bump that I’ve
come to associate with my dog, Woody, poking my foot with his nose. He
probablywantsattention,ormorefood,ortobeletout.Ilooktomyfeetand,
foramoment,amsurprisedwhenIdon’tseethebodyIexpectedtosee.Idon’t
see any body, actually. I don’t have any feet to be poked. Strangely, Woody
isn’tthereeither.Wrappedupinthehillsideviewsandtheflowofwriting,I’d
forgotten thatI’m not really lying ona sofaina multi-million dollarhome in
Los Angeles. I’m hours away in my decidedly more modest apartment in San
Jose. It’salsonot themiddleofa sunnyday,it’s 11:00pm.Thesun sethours
ago. I’m suddenly struck by the fact that I’ve been wearing what’s become a
heavyHTCVivevirtualrealityheadsetandthatmaybeIshouldleavemyvir-
tualLosAngelesterraceandgetreadyforbed!1
Forthoseofuswhohavehadanexperiencelikethis,theimmersivepowerof
virtualrealityworldscanseemfantastical.It’suncannyhowvirtualworldscan
soeasily,sonaturally,andsoquicklytrickusintofeelinglikewe’resomewhere
wereallyaren’t.MyLosAngelesexperiencewasmadepossiblebecauseIwas
using a VR application called Bigscreen. Using Bigscreen, and other applica-
tionslikeit,I’vebeenabletoexperiencethingsthat,even15yearsago,Iwould
havethoughtwereforeveroutsidemyreach.
To name just a few of the things I’ve done recently: I’ve had a whale
encounter on a shipwreck on the ocean floor. I’ve explored the Martian
surface and heard the real sounds of the Martian summer wind. I’ve been a
DOI: 10.4324/9781003042228-1
