Professional Issues in
Computing:
Virtual Worlds Morality
Kevin Macnish (IDEA CETL)
Plan
• Online Interactions
– Hurt, harm, benefit, kindness to others
– Proxy personae
• Virtual “Crime”
– Habbo Hotel
– Second Life
• Real-World / Virtual-World Interactions
– Sony vs. Manchester Cathedral
– Medal of Honor
“It doesn’t really matter – it’s only online”
ONLINE INTERACTIONS
Online Interactions
• Can people be hurt, harmed, benefitted,
treated kindly, etc. through what is done
online?
• Online behaviour: different rules?
– E.g. forums, chat rooms, blogs, IM, etc.
• Is flaming less wrong than face-to-face
insults?
Proxy Personae
• Usernames/Avatars - disguise real identity
– “It’s ok for ‘me’ (my avatar) to insult ‘her’ (her
avatar) because it’s not really her being insulted
and it’s not really me doing the insulting.”
How convincing is this as a justification?
What are the similarities and differences between
online interactions between proxy “identities” and,
say, fiction?
VIRTUAL “CRIME”
Habbo Hotel: Virtual Theft
Habbo Hotel: Virtual Theft
• Property here is a metaphor
– Representative of “real” property
– Costs “real” money
– Would the situation be different had it not
involved “real money”?
• It’s the real-world harms that matter
– “Virtual harm” does not matter
• Deception has taken place here
– Deception widely seen as wrong
Virtual Paedophilia on Second Life
Virtual Paedophilia on Second Life
• Is this wrong? Why?
• Encourages likelihood of “real-world”
paedophilia
• The expression of a vice
– A morally bad trait of character
• Do these arguments apply to novels?
– Nabukov’s Lolita?
– Graphic novels?
REAL-WORLD/VIRTUALWORLD INTERACTIONS
Sony & Manchester Cathedral
Sony & Manchester Cathedral
• Part of what is valuable about certain places is
their associations
– These can be destroyed/corrupted by fiction
– E.g. Notre Dame and Quasimodo
• Issue of consent
– How public is a cathedral? Does this matter?
• Do violent games contribute to gun crime?
– If so then a reason not to perpetuate violent games
• The building itself has not been touched
– Violation charge seems unconvincing
Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
• Real ongoing conflict
• Real people being portrayed
– Desensitizes us to war?
– Prepares us for war?
– Fails to honour dead?
• Ability to play either side
– Unpatriotic?
– Breed contempt for own soldiers?
• MoH continues to be controversial:
Medal of Honour: Warfighter
Proposed Conclusion
• Only real-world morality matters
• How we behave on computers is part of
the real-world
– Includes online and virtual activities
– Such activities therefore subject to moral
consideration
– Acceptance that real people affected
Recap
• Online Interactions
– Hurt, harm, benefit, kindness to others
– Proxy personae
• Virtual “Crime”
– Habbo Hotel
– Second Life
• Real-World / Virtual-World Interactions
– Sony vs. Manchester Cathedral
– Medal of Honor