TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rathkopf, Charles
AU  - Heinrichs, Jan-Hendrik
TI  - Merely virtual virtue? The empathy machine hypothesis and the promise of virtual reality
JO  - Philosophical psychology
VL  - .
SN  - 0951-5089
CY  - London
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
M1  - FZJ-2025-03705
SP  - 1 - 19
PY  - 2025
AB  - Virtual reality (VR) induces a radical psychological reorientation. Yet descriptions of this reorientation are often steeped in theoretically misleading metaphors. We offer a more measured account, grounded in both philosophy and cognitive psychology, and use it to assess the claim that VR promotes moral learning by simulating another’s perspective. This hypothesis depends on the assumption that avatar use produces experiences sufficiently similar to those of others to enable empathic growth. We reject that assumption and offer two arguments against it. Empathy relevant to moral learning requires interpretive effort and contextual understanding, not just a shift in perspective. And VR’s open-ended, user-driven structure tends to reinforce prior assumptions rather than unsettle them. Still, avatar use may have a different effect on moral learning, which we call self-fragmentation. By loosening the boundaries of the self, VR may expand the range of people one is disposed to empathize with.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1080/09515089.2025.2549085
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1046140
ER  -