Selecting from the many possible antecedents, we’ll follow the lead of Arthur Schopenhauer in Preisschrift über die Grundlage der Moral based on the ethics of ancient India. In particular, please bear in mind Schopenhauer’s first ethical principle: “Neminem laede; imo omnes, quantum potes, juva,” or “Do not harm anyone, but help all whenever you can.” Thus, our Metaethical position is that by examining the facts we will present (and possibly by confirming or refuting those facts personally using tools available to many gamers, and which we will personally supply to a few philosophers willing take an active role as philosophical investigators) any interested philosopher will be able to define a right course of action by reference either to a preferred personal moral code or to the moral code of the culture or religion that philosopher claims membership in. Reference to the chosen code of behavioral rules provides a standard or norm against which to judge the facts in hand and move on to applied ethics. In our following arguments, we presuppose it is possible to persuade other philosophers to agree with us that, having been informed of the situation we’ll describe and convinced that our description is valid, it is important to take personal responsibility and act to rectify the problem.
The following question was analyzed in some detail by one political pundit, whose analysis was our blog posting for Monday, May 30, 2005. (http://hypatiatheon.blogspot.com/2005/05/lets-be-philosophical-about-this.html)
The term “cyber-hypocrisy” had other connotations for me, though. We’ve got a blog that started from a sense of moral outrage at the way a game website’s policy of covert cybering among players seems an established perk of the site’s moderators and owner, so that they strenuously resist changing it, or in fact even openly discussing more wholesome ways of handling the inevitable sexual side of role play. Secretiveness seems to us, who are anything but innocent of salacious cybering, a likely cloak for exploitation. The optimum treatment would probably be PG rated love talk (I’m writing several purple-prose examples on our site. LOL.) with double entendres revealing a risque interpretation to the less innocent while the inexperienced would read it in a harmless way. What’s your take on this issue?
The pundit’s detailed analysis during which he emphasizes his personal opinion about an American moral crises, “I believe (FIRMLY) that the number one problem in the United States is not Iraq, or the economy, or Bush, or the democrats, or the debt/deficit/delicatessen…the number one problem is the sexual molestation and exploitation - RAMPANT exploitation and molestation - of children. It’s huge. It’s almost totally covert and underground, considering the numbers. And the implications for adulthood and the severe emotional, mental and physical damage is horrifying,” concludes: “And limping awkwardly back to your original question about my thoughts on this issue, well this pretty much sums it up: Let people be free / those that do harm must pay.”
Leaving this question in Applied Ethics: “Given the number one, or at least very significant, problem of sexual molestation and exploitation of children together with a stance of freedom with responsibility, then what’s our duty in cyberspace?” Of course, I’m not exactly hiding a personal focus on seeking philosophical investigators to inspect AmiaWorld behind my back here. (http://pearllong.blogspot.com/2005/05/another-creative-attempt-to-solve-this_24.html).
Well, obviously, I could, and in fact have, go on for pages about this concern of ours, perhaps it is merely our obsession, more likely there are legitimate improvements that could be made in Amia World’s policy about sexual relations between player/characters during role play. Now, to stand in briefly as a devil’s advocate, we have learned that there exist a whole class of “social servers” within which are “adult” social servers (Doesn’t a name like “Kinky Kingdom” say it all?) where players are “supposed” to go to scratch those itches, so the management of Amia World, having been well aware of that fact long before we learned of it, can merely say, “Well, if you want to role play sexual relations, go to a social server. In Amia characters don’t do sex.” Unfortunately, the last time we were able to look before being banned, this claim is belied by an openly posted rule, “Those who feel the need, keep your cybering to tells.” That rule is read by all new players who takes the time to read the site rules when they first arrive in the Entryway, through which every player must pass join the role play. If some kind NWN player with a set of CD keys would go to the Entryway and take a screen shot proving that Amia’s policy has been changed, we could refocus our concern and move on, being content that Amia has grown, so it’s time for us to do so, too. Meanwhile, we can but seek assistance shining light into the darkness until the very act of observation causes change, as is we believe simultaneously the basis and vehicle of ethics.
