Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects Rueda Etxebarria, Jon Lara Sánchez, Francisco Damián Virtual reality Empathy Empathy enhancement Moral enhancement Moral psychology Neuroethics Applied ethics Virtual embodiment The history of humankind is full of examples that indicate a constant desire to make human beings more moral. Nowadays, technological breakthroughs might have a significant impact on our moral character and abilities. This is the case of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. The aim of this paper is to consider the ethical aspects of the use of VR in enhancing empathy. First, we will offer an introduction to VR, explaining its fundamental features, devices and concepts. Then, we will approach the characterization of VR as an “empathy machine,” showing why this medium has aroused so much interest and why, nevertheless, we do not believe it is the ideal way to enhance empathy. As an alternative, we will consider fostering empathy-related abilities through virtual embodiment in avatars. In the conclusion, however, we will examine some of the serious concerns related to the ethical relevance of empathy and will defend the philosophical case for a reason-guided empathy, also suggesting specific guidelines for possible future developments of empathy enhancement projects through VR embodied experiences. 2021-01-21T10:50:29Z 2021-01-21T10:50:29Z 2020-11-09 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Rueda J and Lara F (2020) Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects. Front. Robot. AI 7:506984. [doi: 10.3389/frobt.2020.506984] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/65885 10.3389/frobt.2020.506984 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España Frontiers Media SA