Videogames and Philosophy

Many videogames contain extreme violence, such as brutal killings, that would clearly be wrong if performed in reality. While some people find killing in videogames morally problematic, most people don’t.

• Many people would find child abuse and other sadistic crimes to be wrong, even when only in a videogame.
• But if virtual murder is OK since nobody is actually harmed, why isn’t virtual child abuse also OK, since nobody is actually harmed? Conversely, if virtual child abuse is unacceptable despite harming nobody, why isn’t virtual murder also unacceptable?