Virtual Morality: Christian Ethics in the Computer Age

The rapid development of information technology in the last twenty years has raised urgent ethical questions. Is the technology itself morally neutral, or is it inherently value-laden? Are the uses to which we put it right just because they are possible? And what ethical principles, if any, should govern our approach to technology, including our behaviour in virtual worlds? In this significant contribution to the debate, Graham Houston proposes a theological and moral framework within which to consider such questions. Drawing upon the work of leading moral thinkers, and using Virtual Reality as a focus for discussion, he shows how Christian ethics can provide tools for a critique of technology. It offers principles of conduct which enable us to live lives pleasing to God in every environment, whether virtual or real.