Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byTrevor Spencer Modified over 9 years ago
1
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? PHILIP K. DICK, 1968 Futuristic Societies
2
Philip K. Dick, 1928-1982 Born in Chicago Began writing 1952 Interest in metaphysics and theology Questioning the universe Fictionalizing philosophizer 44 published novels, 121 short stories Blade runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly
3
The Apocalypse? What is behind our appetite for doomsday visions? Are we confronting deep-seated species-wide fear? Can’t we wait for the end of the world? Philosophy & Culture The Road, 2006, Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed all civilization and, apparently, almost all life on earth.
4
Android? An android is a robot or synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human. Largely within the domain of science fiction Frequently seen in film and television.
5
Android Honda and several other corporations and private enterprises have developed impressive androids A long way to go to make them fully human like.
6
c-3po Star Wars – Luke Skywalker and c-3po
7
Humanity What constitutes the quality of being human? What role does nature play for humans? Destruction of the world as we know it Insanity of humans Non-comprehension of their insanity
8
Artifice Artificial humans Artificial animals Self-extermination Empathy – group fusion / moral choices Move to Mars!
9
Social Body Michel Foucault:“the idea of a social body constituted by the universality of wills” is a great fantasy the “phenomenon of the social body is the effect not of a consensus but of the materiality of power operating on the very bodies of individuals.” Earth has created a hierarchy of power
10
Hope? The “Specials” Empathy – social structure Rational hope? Religious hope? Nature Kipple
11
Rick Deckard, Bounty Hunter Married to Iran No children, but an artificial sheep Identity linked to destroyed nature Creation of a subject-identity ~ possession of power over an animal (nature) Fake nature fake identity grey zone between human and android Android are indistinguishable from humans empathy test
12
Westworld http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFmKvY6PN2M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAy8YnKvHQ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQVWP8fP5To
13
Identity-crisis Power hierarchy Annual, decisive personality tests Buster Friendly Mercer Survival of the fittest Central irony
14
Fulfillment & Humanity? Empathy and fusion Human = non-android Empathy solely towards other humans Doubt creates a dilemma despair and resignation Inter-subjective identity formation as key to humanity The empathy box
15
Aliens? Marital relationships ~ Rachel Rosen Reconciling the diminishing distinction between humans and androids Mercer: “the basic condition of life to be required to violate your own identity” Enlightenment – The Tomb World
16
Mercerism Religion called Mercerism Establish ethical, moral norms of behavior Create empathetic fusion Shame / blushing reaction Mercer, the person ~ Jesus? Repetitive cycle – no forward momentum Opposed to Kierkegaard – the individual + God
17
Humans and Animals Squirrels Sisyphus Mankind’s inherent stupidity Wrong choices Hopelessness Collective path to doom Self-destruction / Existential angst
18
Blade Runner, 1982 http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/blade- runner-clip-6-01-05-20-01-09- 52/ea4f37468b36c6e25403ea4f37468b36c6e25403- 502698673628?q=blade+runner+video+clips&FRO M=LKVR5>1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR29 http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/blade- runner-clip-6-01-05-20-01-09- 52/ea4f37468b36c6e25403ea4f37468b36c6e25403- 502698673628?q=blade+runner+video+clips&FRO M=LKVR5>1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR29 http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=blade+runn er+video+clips&qpvt=blade+runner+video+clips&F ORM=VDRE# http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=blade+runn er+video+clips&qpvt=blade+runner+video+clips&F ORM=VDRE#
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.