On Virtual Reality

As a new domain of current information technology development, virtual reality is constructing a virtual world, which makes those immersed into unaware of its truth or falsity. It also causes new arguments about realism in the academic circle. By the method of thought experiment, Professor Zhai Zhenming, protests in The Last Collapse of Realism that it is nonsense to see the world we are living as a realistic one since virtual reality acquires the same status as natural reality. The academic circle answers differently: some scholars categorize virtual reality as matter and think it substantially realistic since its realization depends on realistic technological means; some believe virtual reality belongs to"World 3"proposed by Popper, in other words, the substantial knowledge world, i.e., the idealistic world in an objective sense. Some other scholars reckon that it could be categorized into"World 4", i.e., the code world made by human beings.After reviewing realism in western philosophy, the thesis holds that realism could be roughly divided as ontological one and epistemological one. But the current discussion defines virtual reality from the point of ontology. However, such ontological realism cannot even prove its own realism, what is the point of using it to identify the essential meaning of virtual reality? On the other hand, from the epistemological point, examples of virtual reality clearly show us shortcomings of epistemological realism. Any standpoint persistent in realism cannot guarantee reliability and certainty of it.In fact, the existence of virtual reality and other reality depend on our cognition, and we identify reality on the basis of feeling it. From Kant's theories about objects and its cognition model, we find cognition built on straight sensibility cannot reach to a true understanding of reality, and the cognition of virtual reality and any other matter is totally the result of our thought. Therefore, it is untenable to emphasize absolute objectivity, reliability and authenticity of realism.Finally, the thesis deems that despite of the failure of realism in epistemology, the real faith is the base of our life. Therefore, based on Quine's ontological commitment, we can construct a new type of realism--- constructive realism to resolve current plight of realism.