Metaverse as the Lifeworld; A Phenomenological View on the Metaverse

Shafikhani, Mohamad Amin; Motallebi Korbekandi, Hossein

doi:10.30465/ps.2023.43552.1640

Metaverse as the Lifeworld; A Phenomenological View on the Metaverse

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mohamad Amin Shafikhani ¹

Hossein Motallebi Korbekandi ²

¹ Master of Philosophy of Science of Sharif University of Technology and Colleague Researcher of Virtual Space Research Institute

² Ph.D. in Islamic Theology of Qom University and Researcher of Virtual Space Research Institute

https://doi.org/10.30465/ps.2023.43552.1640

Abstract

“Metaverse” is a technological phenomenon that has attracted the special attention of the public and the elite. This new phenomenon, which is based on several new emerging technologies in the fields of information and communication, and which is more near to idea than implementation, has brought several questions about; from questions about the nature of this phenomenon to questions about its various functions and effects. In answer to the question about the nature of metaverse various answers have been given, most of which are technical ones. In this article, we tend to deepen the answer to the question about the nature of metaverse, using the philosophical concept of “Lifeworld” and phenomenological analysis of Edmund Husserl, the eminent German philosopher and with the help of a philosophical approach to this strategic question, we have tried to provide an understanding of the nature of metaverse, not achieved by common technical answers alone. In this, after a technical explanation about the metaverse and a review of its phenomenology literature, we explain our theoretical innovation, and by introducing the metaverse as an "Artificial Lifeworld", explain its contrast with the "Traditional-Natural Lifeworld". at the end, we point out the results of this phenomenological approach to the metaverse and its effect on metaverse policy.

Keywords

Metaverse

Technology

Husserl

Artificial lifeworld

Traditional-natural lifeworld

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