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Between Heaven and Headsets: Revelation in the Virtual Age
👤Speaker: Yen-Tung Lee (Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica)
👤Moderator: Tzu-Wei Hung (Research Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica)
📅Time: 28-7-2026 (Tue) 11:30
📍Venue: 1F, Conference Room, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica
Abstract: In the digital era, virtual reality (VR) has been playing an increasingly important role in our lives. Reflecting on the impact of this technology, Hong Kong Mandopop artist G.E.M. (Gloria Tang Tsz-kei) explores the themes of the self-other relationship that interconnect the virtual and physical realms of life in her recent artwork series, Revelation. This paper examines the philosophical ideas embedded in Revelation, analyzing the relevant implications as envisioned in these works. Revelation illustrates how sufficiently advanced VR enables authentic human flourishing, serving as a philosophical resource for reconceiving personhood, interpersonal relationships, and the meaning of life. This paper focuses on these issues: 1) the user-avatar relationship, 2) virtual friendship, and 3) the meaning of virtual life. First, avatars function as genuine extensions of personhood rather than distorted representations. By adopting a user’s first-person perspective and consciousness, avatars allow individuals to authentically embody themselves across different forms of embodiment, challenging traditional skepticism about virtual self-presentation. Second, genuine friendships can flourish in virtual worlds through shared activities and mutual self-disclosure. I demonstrate that collaborative virtual experiences can foster the intimacy, mutual caring, and authentic self-presentation that characterize meaningful friendships, countering arguments that virtual relationships lack essential depth. Third, virtual lives can be meaningful through our consciousness and genuine connection. I argue that subjective experience underpins the meaning of life, regardless of whether consciousness arises from neural or digital systems. Together, these claims suggest that virtual and physical existence function as complementary modes of human experience rather than fundamentally opposed alternatives.