The Philosophers' Cocoon

An excerpt from my chapter in Blackwell's forthcoming "Westworld and Philosophy" book is featured today at beyondwestworld.com. 

My theory: there are many hints in the first season’s dialogue, plot, and physics that Westworld is not a park at all, but rather a complete virtual reality (VR) world that people "visit" to escape the "real world." The philosophical implications I draw: First, to be simulated is to be real. Simulated worlds are every bit as real as "the real world", and simulated people are every bit as real as "real" ones. Second, failure to understand this is already leading us to treat our own creations (artificially intelligent agents, videogame characters, etc.) in morally dangerous ways, once again repeating our ugly human narrative of denying moral standing to others we regard as "lesser beings." We have already, without even knowing it, become the kinds of "irreponsible gods" that the human characters are in Westworld. 

(There are actually more hints for the theory that I couldn’t give in the chapter given its strict word-limit. I’d be happy to share some of them, if anyone is interested:).