Date of Publication

7-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy

Subject Categories

Philosophy

College

College of Liberal Arts

Department/Unit

Philosophy

Thesis Advisor

Noelle Leslie G. De la Cruz

Defense Panel Chair

Robert James M. Boyles

Defense Panel Member

Beverly A. Sarza
Gansham T. Mansukhani

Abstract/Summary

This paper argues that it is possible to use the phenomenological method to help prove and strengthen David Chalmers’ claims on the reality of virtual reality and the objects and experiences within it, as well as address its criticisms. Through the use of the phenomenological method, it is able to show that the body is capable of extending what Maurice Merleau-Ponty calls the body schema to VR peripherals and the virtual body inside a virtual world. This extension allows consciousness to experience the virtual world and be able to use further user the method to analyze experiences inside it. It also exhibits the different essential structures within virtual worlds and virtual reality that were found as a result of the phenomenological method, such as presence, immersion, interactivity, and emotion. Through all these discoveries, this paper has proved and strengthened Chalmers’ claims on virtual reality, as well as addressed the criticisms and issues on said claims.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Keywords

Virtual reality; Phenomenology; Metaphysics; David Chalmers; Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1908-1961

Upload Full Text

wf_yes

Embargo Period

8-13-2025

Download

Share

COinS