Abstract
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.
