Virtual Morality

A fascinating article on adbusters.com about virtual morality

https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/virtual_morality.html

“As videogames create better, more immersive models of reality: are we free to do anything we want in a virtual world, or are some things inherently wrong? “
The article discusses the idea of violence and sexual behavior in virtual worlds and its chances of surfacing in the real world. This is something we have discussed in lectures. I felt this article was important because it goes on to discuss moral agency in videogames. With more immersive models of reality being developed, will people be asking themselves “am I free to do anything I want in a virtual world, or are some things inherently wrong?” The huge sales of GTA IV show that “there is a collective desire to immerse oneself in virtual misbehaviour” and many gaming communities understand and do not reject that an increasing number of videogames involve virtual lawlessness. Just as long as no “other” gets hurt, people should be free to do as they please. On the other hand, the article talks about a number of gamers that disagree with some of the content (especially sexual behavior) in videogames and virtual realities such as Second Life. They conclude that morality does indeed have a place in a virtual world. The article seems to think that at some point we will make a choice as to whether morality does have its place in videogames or that people should be allowed to do as they please in a videogame as long as nobody is harmed in the process.