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@ARTICLE{Rathkopf:1046140,
      author       = {Rathkopf, Charles and Heinrichs, Jan-Hendrik},
      title        = {{M}erely virtual virtue? {T}he empathy machine hypothesis
                      and the promise of virtual reality},
      journal      = {Philosophical psychology},
      volume       = {.},
      issn         = {0951-5089},
      address      = {London},
      publisher    = {Routledge, Taylor $\&$ Francis Group},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2025-03705},
      pages        = {1 - 19},
      year         = {2025},
      abstract     = {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.},
      cin          = {INM-7},
      ddc          = {100},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)INM-7-20090406},
      pnm          = {5255 - Neuroethics and Ethics of Information (POF4-525)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5255},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      doi          = {10.1080/09515089.2025.2549085},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1046140},
}