What for, Vol. VIII No. 16/17, 2009.
Professional paper
What if Androids Really Do Dream of Electric Sheep?
Lovro Grgić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Zagreb
Abstract
In this paper, the author has tried to explore the possible implications, which scientific and technical breakthroughs in the field of robotics (held by some to be at hand in the near future) could have on the status of robots and the relations between robots and humans. The main problems addressed are the following: What are the pre-conditions of accepting an entity as a living being? What legal status should a creature, which is considered alive have? What are the pre-conditions of being a moral being (subject)? Is it possible for a robot to be a moral being? What status should a being, which meets all pre-conditions of being a moral subject, have? In an attempt to present an answer to these questions, the author has combined hypothetical reasoning with the theory of ethics, drawing from both science fiction classics (Asimov, Dick, Roddenberry) and moral philosophy milestones (Aristotle, Kant, Rawls) in the process. In doing so, he tried to apply traditional concepts on future problems, which resulted in forming a picture of a possible world, along with its moral code. The paper ends without a decisive conclusion, thus reflecting the uncertainty of the premises with which it began.
Keywords
Robots; life; morality; artificial intelligence; legal status
Hrčak ID:
61657
URI
Publication date:
17.3.2009.
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