Virtual Reality as Philosophy
UndergraduateLTU-PHI3VRP2024
Course information for 2024 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed, No prior study
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Virtual Reality as Philosophy
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Resolve problems and complex debates by identifying the underlying issues, analysing their structure, and employing appropriate reasoning strategies and creative solutions (in the form of new objections, arguments, and ideas).
- Articulate, analyse, and evaluate, standard form and text-based arguments, using appropriate methods of analysis and critical reasoning.
- Examine how philosophical concepts and theories can interact in innovative ways with issues raised by Virtual Reality and other new and emerging technologies.
- Analyse and write carefully constructed arguments in support of philosophical conclusions.
- Virtual and Augmented Reality
- Well-being, Aristotle, and Nozick's Experience Machine
- Uses of VR as an "Empathy Machine"
- The Simulation Argument
- Realist Versus Fictional Views of Virtual Objects
- The Ethics of Violent Video Games
- Digital Afterlives
This subject discusses the philosophical significance of Virtual Reality (VR) and other related technologies (like Augmented Reality and Video Games). These developing technologies raise many interesting ethical, social, metaphysical, and existential questions. This subject will introduce you to these issues and give you the conceptual tools to evaluate and analyse them, not only now but into the future as these technologies continue to change and evolve. Some of the questions we may look at include: Is a virtual life always less valuable than a real life? Is VR an empathy machine that can help us to better understand the inner lives of other people? Are the objects and events in VR real or fictional? What ethical constraints are there on our actions in virtual environments? In this subject you will also be encouraged to explore some of the virtual worlds we will be discussing (a cheap pair of cardboard VR goggles and a smartphone will suffice), and to let those experiences influence your thoughts and philosophical arguments.
This is a level 3 subject. This subject includes live sessions with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- 2x 1,000 word Online Blogging Exercises (2,000 word total) (50%)
- Research Essay (2000 words) OR Research Video presentation (equivalent of 2000 words) (50%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
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Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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