Metaverse and Metatheory

The article outlines the conceptual and methodological foundations of understanding the metaverse as a sociotechnical infrastructure of the "embodied internet", which intertwines the practices of virtual and augmented reality with the services of the physical world. The focus is on the issues of digital identity, agency, and responsibility, as well as the attachment of law and order to events in the virtual environment (electronic jurisdiction). Methodologically, the work is based on a metatheoretical approach. Metatheory is considered as a "level of the second order", which explores the structure, methods and boundaries of application of subject theories, analyzes the rules for the creation of knowledge — axiomatics, derivation schemes, criteria of correctness, completeness and consistency, as well as the conditions for introducing new concepts and procedures for their operationalization. It provides definitional clarity, consistency and reproducibility of knowledge. The article clarifies the content of the metaverse: from the "virtual world" to an interoperable infrastructure with persistent user identity, portability of digital assets, and agreed access and moderation procedures (policy-as-code). It is shown that such a framework provides grounds for combining technical standards (data exchange, interoperability of protocols) with human rights guarantees (privacy, non-discrimination, appealability).