Since the birth of the concept of the metaverse thirty years ago, the academic community has conducted extensive and in-depth discussions on it. The metaverse is widely defined as a new social system that deeply integrates the virtual world with the real world. Its distinctive features include highly immersive experiences, a complete and consistent worldview, open interactive mechanisms, identity virtualization, digital twin technology for knowledge exchange, and innovation in defining ownership. The rise of this concept not only profoundly changed the mode of human production and life, but also touched upon the field of thinking, and had a significant impact on cultural philosophy, an important component of social consciousness, opening up new research dimensions and thinking spaces.
Looking back at history, traditional cultural philosophy is rooted in the soil of agricultural and industrial civilization. The former pursues harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, while the latter witnesses the infiltration and reshaping of culture by capital and commodities. The arrival of the metaverse era has brought unprecedented opportunities for cultural philosophy to change. As the product of modern science and technology, the underlying technologies such as blockchain, information technology, Internet plus, big data, etc., have jointly constructed its material cornerstone, profoundly shaped the face of the contemporary social structure with the attitude of “the first productive force”, and provided a new practice stage and theoretical background for cultural philosophy.
In the broad perspective of the metaverse, the focus of cultural philosophy has quietly shifted to how the metaverse shapes and influences human cultural value systems. This transformation requires us to examine the dual effects of the metaverse with a dialectical perspective: on the one hand, it broadens the boundaries of cultural values, extends the boundaries of thinking from the real world to the virtual dimension, and promotes the liberation and diversification of thinking; On the other hand, the metaverse may also exacerbate the virtualization tendency of cultural values, bringing potential risks and challenges.
There is a close interactive relationship between the metaverse and cultural philosophy. The metaverse is not only the practical foundation of cultural philosophy research, but its development trajectory is also deeply imprinted in the theoretical system of cultural philosophy, becoming an indispensable part of it. At the same time, cultural philosophy, as a reflection of ideology, also guides the development direction of the metaverse to a certain extent, ensuring that it does not deviate from the track of humanistic values while advancing in technology.
From the perspective of Marxist philosophy, the metaverse is regarded as an inevitable product of the digitalization process of human society, opening up new communication spaces and enriching the forms and contents of human communication. The virtual practice activities of the metaverse, although rooted in the material foundation of the real world, can also have a reciprocal effect on the real world, promoting profound changes in social production, life, and thinking patterns. This dialectical process not only promotes the progress of human civilization, but also encourages cultural philosophy to constantly innovate to meet the needs of the new era.
However, in the face of the rapid development of the metaverse, cultural philosophy also needs to maintain a clear mind. It should not only see the opportunities and hopes it brings, but also be wary of the negative impacts it may bring, such as the proliferation of instrumental rationality and the weakening of humanistic spirit. Therefore, cultural philosophy needs to shoulder the responsibility of examining and reflecting, ensuring that the development of the metaverse always follows the direction of humanistic values, and avoiding humanity from becoming a vassal of technology.
On the vast stage of the metaverse, the diversity of human civilization is able to converge and blend in the digital space, promoting the diversified development of cultural and philosophical forms. This not only provides the possibility for humanity to transcend the constraints of capital logic, but also opens up diverse paths for the realization of cultural values. In the face of the future, cultural philosophy should continue to deepen its research and practical exploration of the metaverse, with human existence and development as the core, and formulate metaverse development goals and directions that are in line with humanistic values, jointly building a more beautiful and harmonious human society.
