Journal Articles
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Emotion and Ethics in Virtual Reality
Australasian Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming) doi.org/10.1080/00048402.2025.2515848 Abstract
Objects and events in virtual reality don't really exist. But then why do some actions in virtual reality have a distressing emotional impact on users as if they were real? And if none of it exists, how can we wrong others in virtual worlds? I explain how. |
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Abstract
Literary extracts make good philosophical examples for various reasons. Subject to certain conditions, they can provide evidence about the actual social world, and can contain greater insight into characters' mental states than many real cases – useful properties within certain areas of philosophy. |
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Fictional Names, Theoretical Names, and Indeterminate Existence
Philosophical Studies 183, 1465–1481 (2026) doi.org/10.1007/s11098-026-02497-y Abstract
Creationism about fictional and theoretical names holds that seemingly empty names such as ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘Vulcan’ refer to abstract objects created by authors and scientific theorists. This paper poses an objection to creationism: in cases of fiction writing or scientific theorising where it is indeterminate whether one succeeds or fails in referring to an object in the world, creationism renders it metaphysically indeterminate whether an abstract object is created. However, the indeterminate existence of abstract objects constitutes an untenable metaphysical commitment, offering a compelling reason to reject creationism. |
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Virtual Reality, Seeing-In, and Twofoldness
British Journal of Aesthetics 66, 151–168 (2026) doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayaf017 Abstract
I argue that the phenomenology of virtual reality differs from that of most images, which elicit a seeing-in experience. Virtual reality instead is intended to offer an experience like seeing objects face-to-face, though current editions still often feature unintended visual glitches that distinguish it from regular perceptual experience. |
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Imaginative Contagion and Moral Corruption
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 111, 999–1017 (2025) doi.org/10.1111/phpr.70056 Abstract
Actors, videogame players, and virtual reality users sometimes experience imaginative contagion, as they begin to acquire attitudes of the characters they imagine themselves as. I offer an explanation of contagion and identify two processes that mitigate it – imaginative resistance and active quarantine – diminishing concerns that contagion leads to moral corruption. |
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Abstract
Philosophical work on truth in fiction focuses on linear narrative media like literature and film, failing to capture videogames and other interactive fiction in which content differs depending on audience input. I propose an account of truth in interactive fiction, and illustrate its necessity for explaining our aesthetic evaluation of interactive fiction and player culpability for virtual transgressions. |
Book Reviews
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Aesthetics and Video Games – by Christopher Bartel
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 84, 76–79 (2026) doi.org/10.1093/jaac/kpag021 |
Work in Progress
A paper on the risk of contagion and moral corruption through shared inquiry (w/ Adham El Shazly)
A paper on our moral duties regarding misrepresentation in romantic relationships (w/ Pilar Lopez-Cantero)
A paper on the aesthetics and epistemology of "knowledge-based" videogames (w/ Nele van de Mosselaer)
A paper on our obligations to disclose information to potential romantic partners on dating apps
A paper on our moral duties regarding misrepresentation in romantic relationships (w/ Pilar Lopez-Cantero)
A paper on the aesthetics and epistemology of "knowledge-based" videogames (w/ Nele van de Mosselaer)
A paper on our obligations to disclose information to potential romantic partners on dating apps
