Virtual Self and Digital Depersonalization: Between Existential Dasein and Digital Design

This paper explores the phenomenon of virtuality and the digital shift in self and self-consciousness through the prism of clinical phenomenology. The phenomenon of virtuality is examined through the mirroring complementarity of the experiences of cybergenerated virtual reality and the experiences of brain-generated depersonalization. Two properties of virtuality -- the 'as-if' quality and uncanniness { are characterized. The notion of the Virtual Self is proposed as a framework for understanding the self in a digital world. The notion of digital depersonalization is introduced as a framework for understanding self-consciousness in a world that is extended by virtuality. The notion of digital ontological depersonalization is discussed from the perspectives of existential Dasein and digital design.