Ethics in the Virtual World

Garry Young is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University

• 1. Introduction: Playing with right and wrong 2. To prohibit or not to prohibit, that is the question 3. Hume's strength of feeling 4. Kant's call of duty 5. The cost-benefit of virtual violence (and other taboos) 6. Are meanings virtually the same? 7. There are wrongs and then there are wrongs 8. Virtual virtues, virtual vices 9. Doing what it takes to win 10. Agreeing the rules 11. Why would anyone want to do that? 12. Coping with virtual taboos 13. Conclusion Notes Bibliography

"Garry Young combines an expertise in moral philosophy, media psychology and game theory. This rare quality enables him to explore territory that no other game scholar has yet visited." - Steven Malliet, University of Antwerp. "Ethics in the Virtual World demonstrates the weakness of claims for censorship of video game content that are based in philosophical moral arguments. It points us toward a much more fruitful basis for evaluating game content - the psychological ability of the gamer to cope with the disparity between virtual and real-world moral systems." - Charlene P. E. Burns, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.