Realism of Cyberspace: A Philosophical Analysis of Virtual Reality with an Emphasis on the Principles of the Transcendent Philosophy

From an ontological point of view, cyberspace should be considered a domain of original and effective reality which, given its vast growth, has exercised great influence on different aspects of modern human life. A study of the ontological dimensions of this realm of reality is important for different reasons. Undoubtedly, toady a significant part of human life is affected by the various manifestations of cyberspace. Moreover, this phenomenon has influenced multiple angles of human thought and behavior and introduced a new lifestyle for contemporary human beings and later generations. The present study, while investigating the virtual world from an ontological point of view and providing a metaphysical analysis of this realm, tries to rationally demonstrate that cyberspace is a real entity enjoying objectivity and truth relying on its effects on human nature and destiny. Later, based on the logical principle of “By their fruit you will recognize them”, the author first explains and emphasizes the objective effects and concomitants of cyberspace, and then discloses some angles of this secret and complicated reality based on Sadrian principles. The realism of cyberspace can suggest the idea that virtual reality is similar to a kind of existence in Islamic philosophy called the “world of Ideas” or the “world of quantitative forms”. This is because, irrespective of the differences between these two phenomena, virtual reality is also based on numbers and quantitative forms. Moreover, similar to the world of ideas, there is no trace of matter in this realm of being (cyberspace), whereas the effects and concomitants of matter can be witnessed there. The smallest philosophical outcome of exploring virtual reality is that, by revealing a realm of being including both immaterial and subtle forms, it prepares contemporary Man to perceive and experience “abstract truths” and accept holy, immaterial, and intangible affairs.