Being More Than Yourself

Abstract André Nusselder’s chapter references the work of philosophers such as Kierkegaard and Badiou to argue for an ethical framework to regulate the excess of virtuality brought about by the computer and Internet revolution. Virtuality is approached from the perspective of the signs and symbolic representations that humans use, and the virtual condition is seen as one of exceeding physical limitations: a breach of the natural condition. Because of this freedom, the human self is characterized by a fundamental instability: it hovers between sophistication and greediness. Nusselder concludes by calling for a framework to protect humankind from the nihilism we are at risk of suffering through the excesses brought about by the freedom implicit in virtuality.