Dr Mary Jean Walker, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, researches the ethical and philosophical implications of new health technologies and how they’re reshaping what it means to be human.
“New technologies can change our experience of being human, in terms of how we think, feel and relate to our own bodies,” she explains.
“For example, people with artificial hearts experience changes in daily routines surrounding the artificial heart. They also experience a range of mechanical effects, including being able to feel and hear the device working internally.”
She says this technology raises questions about our understanding of human nature, enforcing a separation of mind and body.
Dr Walker’s next project will extend these questions by examining the philosophical issues surrounding the use of virtual reality as an 'empathy machine'.
She will work with a team of researchers, including lead investigator, Dr Yuri Cath, on the recently funded ARC Discovery Project, ‘Virtual Reality (VR) and Knowing What It Is Like’.
“Virtual reality programs are already in use in some healthcare contexts, for example, in training medical students to have greater empathy for patients with particular conditions,” she says.
“Often doctors who experience being a patient themselves report being more empathetic to patients' reports of pain. If such empathy could be generated without the physicians being ill, we might be able to improve the patient experience.”
“These programs also raise ethical issues, such as the possibility of inaccurate learning and the aptness of appropriating the experience of people who might already be disadvantaged.”
