At first glance, the concept 'virtual reality' seems to be an oxymoron. If it even makes sense to characterise something as 'almost real', what are the implications for the ontological and epistemological status of virtual entities and why should we bother with the ethics of illusory experiences? In this lecture I will give a broad, horizontal sweep of the philosophical issues raised by virtuality in different forms. A general purpose will be to show how virtuality re-actualizes and re-shapes many traditional philosophical issues (I will focus on Plato, Descartes, Malebranche, Berkeley, Hume and Kant). In particular, I will argue that virtual reality is indeed an apt term; while virtual reality clearly differs from actual (physical) reality, it also differs from mere products of the mind in a manner that has profound implications for its ontology, epistemology and ethics.