Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Morality In The Virtual Space: Applying Moral Philosophy To Digital Worlds, James O'Sullivan

Theses

Since the turn of the century and the dawn of the digital age, online communities have witnessed significant growth in their importance. Significant numbers of virtual environments now exist, within which millions of individuals interact socially and economically, engaged fully in what is equivalent to a physical encounter, the only differences being the virtual representations through which they interact, and the physical security that this representation affords them. Though physically absent, individuals are fully engaged psychologically, and thus open to the same ethical dilemmas presented through reality. Application of real-world moral codes is encumbered by the existence of what 1 …