Mechanical Empathy Seems Too Risky. Will Policymakers Transcend Inertia and Choose for Robot Care? The World Needs It

An ageing population, increasing longevity and below-replacement fertility increase the care burden worldwide. This comes with age-related diseases such as Alzheimer disease and other dementias, cardiovascular disorders, cancer and—hardly noticed—pandemic loneliness. The burden, both emotionally and economically, starts to become astronomical and cannot be carried by those few who need to combine care with work and family. Social solidarity programmes are part of the answer, but they do not relieve the human helper. Yet, many hands are needed where but a few are available. Capacity issues can be solved by the introduction of care robots. Research shows that state-of-the-art technology is such that care robots can become nonthreatening social entities and be accepted and appreciated by the lonesome. Massive employment of such devices is impeded, however, sufficient governmental support of R&D is lacking—financially and regulatorily. This is where policymakers should step in and get over their moral prejudices and those of their voters and stop being afraid of losing political backing. They will regain it in the long run

Can Autonomous Machines Make Ethical Decisions?

Käesolev bakalaureusetöö küsib, kas autonoomsed masinad suudavad teha eetilisi otsuseid. Autonoomse masina all mõeldakse siin selliseid masinad, mis on võimelised tegutsema ilma pideva inimese poolse juhtimiseta ning mida kontrollib tehisintellekt. Autor arutleb eeliste ja puuduste üle, mis on erinevatel eetilistel printsiipidel, mida masin saaks kasutada alusena oma otsuste tegemisel. Siia on kaasatud nii klassikalised eetikateooriad nagu näiteks utilitarism kui ka alternatiivsed lähenemised nagu juhtumipõhine masinõpe. Samuti leitakse, et valdkonnapõhise eetika masinasse juurutamine oleks kergem, kui püüd korraga arendada üldisel eetikal põhinevat masinat. Vaadeldakse ka üldist masinapoolse otsustusprotsessi olemust ning jõutakse järeldusele, et kuna masinal puudub teadvus, vaba tahe, kavatsuslikkus ja omakasupüüdlikkus, siis ei ole masinad võimelised tegema eetilisi otsuseid sel moel nagu inimene. Sellest hoolimata on masinad võimelised tegema otsuseid, mida saab pidada eetiliseks mingis kindlas situatsioonis, juhul kui neisse on implementeeritud sobiv eetiline printsiip ning masin suudab koguda adekvaatset infot end ümbritseva kohta.https://www.ester.ee/record=b518354

Machine Medical Ethics

In medical settings, machines are in close proximity with human beings: with patients who are in vulnerable states of health, who have disabilities of various kinds, with the very young or very old, and with medical professionals. Machines in these contexts are undertaking important medical tasks that require emotional sensitivity, knowledge of medical codes, human dignity, and privacy. As machine technology advances, ethical concerns become more urgent: should medical machines be programmed to follow a code of medical ethics? What theory or theories should constrain medical machine conduct? What design features are required? Should machines share responsibility with humans for the ethical consequences of medical actions? How ought clinical relationships involving machines to be modeled? Is a capacity for empathy and emotion detection necessary? What about consciousness? The essays in this collection by researchers from both humanities and science describe various theoretical and experimental approaches to adding medical ethics to a machine, what design features are necessary in order to achieve this, philosophical and practical questions concerning justice, rights, decision-making and responsibility, and accurately modeling essential physician-machine-patient relationships. This collection is the first book to address these 21st-century concerns

The early modern (re)discovery of “overhuman” potential: Marlowe’s and Shakespeare’s over-reachers in the light of Nietzsche’s philosophy

Głównym celem pracy jest analiza wybranych bohaterów dramatów Williama Szekspira i Krzysztofa Marlowe’a w świetle kluczowych koncepcji filozofii Fryderyka Nietzschego. Analizowane postaci, określane w języku angielskim jako „overreachers” charakteryzują się wyjątkowo silną ambicją i niejednokrotnie bezkompromisowo dążą do władzy i panowania. Ta analogia staje się punktem wyjścia do reinterpretacji „nadczłowieczego” potencjału w angielskim dramacie renesansowym, a także przyczynkiem do ogólniejszej refleksji na temat tożsamości człowieka renesansu. Połączenie nietzscheanizmu ze studiami nad angielskim dramatem siedemnastowiecznym jest niewątpliwie niszą badawczą, gdyż do tej pory nietzscheanizm nie stanowił narzędzia metodologicznego w dyskusji nad tożsamością człowieka odrodzenia. Zatem wykorzystanie potencjału filozoficznego nietzscheanizmu służy zarówno próbie odczytania na nowo pojęcia jednostkowości człowieka renesansu, jak również praktycznemu wykorzystaniu refleksji niemieckiego filozofa w interpretacji literackiej.This book presents the analysis of the selected characters from Christopher Marlowe’s and William Shakespeare’s dramas in the light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s key philosophical ideas. The characters under scrutiny may be seen as “overreachers” – exceptionally ambitious figures who relentlessly aspire to power. The indomitable and excessively ambitious characters have a lot in common with Nietzsche’s conception of “the overman”, who is characterized by the strong will to power. This parallel becomes a point of departure for a rereading of the “overhuman” potential in the English Renaissance drama and the identity of an early modern human being. So Nietzsche’s philosophy is utilized to analyse the concept of human singularity in the English Renaissance. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the practical usage of Nietzsche’s philosophy in literary analysis. The book consists of five chapters: two theoretical and three analytical ones. Chapter one presents a methodological basis for the entire work, while chapter two deals with a cultural and historical background of the Renaissance. The first analytical chapter is a rereading of Marlowe’s protagonists – Tamburlaine (Tamburlaine, the Great) and Barabas (The Jew of Malta). Chapter four analyses Shakespeare’s Brutus (Julius Caesar), Macbeth (Macbeth) and Edmund (King Lear). The last chapter is devoted to female characters from Marlowe’s and Shakespeare’s plays (Zenocrate from Tamburlaine, the Great, Lady Macbeth and Lear’s daughters)

The early modern (re)discovery of “overhuman” potential: Marlowe’s and Shakespeare’s over-reachers in the light of Nietzsche’s philosophy

Głównym celem pracy jest analiza wybranych bohaterów dramatów Williama Szekspira i Krzysztofa Marlowe’a w świetle kluczowych koncepcji filozofii Fryderyka Nietzschego. Analizowane postaci, określane w języku angielskim jako „overreachers” charakteryzują się wyjątkowo silną ambicją i niejednokrotnie bezkompromisowo dążą do władzy i panowania. Ta analogia staje się punktem wyjścia do reinterpretacji „nadczłowieczego” potencjału w angielskim dramacie renesansowym, a także przyczynkiem do ogólniejszej refleksji na temat tożsamości człowieka renesansu. Połączenie nietzscheanizmu ze studiami nad angielskim dramatem siedemnastowiecznym jest niewątpliwie niszą badawczą, gdyż do tej pory nietzscheanizm nie stanowił narzędzia metodologicznego w dyskusji nad tożsamością człowieka odrodzenia. Zatem wykorzystanie potencjału filozoficznego nietzscheanizmu służy zarówno próbie odczytania na nowo pojęcia jednostkowości człowieka renesansu, jak również praktycznemu wykorzystaniu refleksji niemieckiego filozofa w interpretacji literackiej.This book presents the analysis of the selected characters from Christopher Marlowe’s and William Shakespeare’s dramas in the light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s key philosophical ideas. The characters under scrutiny may be seen as “overreachers” – exceptionally ambitious figures who relentlessly aspire to power. The indomitable and excessively ambitious characters have a lot in common with Nietzsche’s conception of “the overman”, who is characterized by the strong will to power. This parallel becomes a point of departure for a rereading of the “overhuman” potential in the English Renaissance drama and the identity of an early modern human being. So Nietzsche’s philosophy is utilized to analyse the concept of human singularity in the English Renaissance. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the practical usage of Nietzsche’s philosophy in literary analysis. The book consists of five chapters: two theoretical and three analytical ones. Chapter one presents a methodological basis for the entire work, while chapter two deals with a cultural and historical background of the Renaissance. The first analytical chapter is a rereading of Marlowe’s protagonists – Tamburlaine (Tamburlaine, the Great) and Barabas (The Jew of Malta). Chapter four analyses Shakespeare’s Brutus (Julius Caesar), Macbeth (Macbeth) and Edmund (King Lear). The last chapter is devoted to female characters from Marlowe’s and Shakespeare’s plays (Zenocrate from Tamburlaine, the Great, Lady Macbeth and Lear’s daughters)

Happiness: Early Modernity and Shakespearean Comedy

This thesis investigates attitudes to happiness in the early modern period and literary representations of positive emotion. It is situated methodologically at the nexus of a number of interconnected approaches. Against a background of body studies and Freudian psychology, it engages with current research in the history of the emotions and work being done in the field of positive psychology. The insights provided by positive psychology into the power of positive emotions, such as optimism, resilience and emotional intelligence, open up a way to access the originality of Shakespeare’s understanding of the emotions and their power in people’s lives. An interdisciplinary approach provides a methodology that can incorporate analysis of imaginative and non-fiction texts with research into the historical, cultural, religious and political influences that shaped how people might have thought and felt about happiness. It considers the extent to which people could be happy in the context of religious beliefs that emphasised the fallen nature of man. As a result of increasing political absolutism and the failure of political theory to provide for societal or personal happiness, people engaged in a process of myth making. They imagined utopian societies, and they imposed their beliefs in the possibility of discovering a lost paradise on the new worlds they discovered in the Americas. More realistically, they accommodated themselves to the conditions of their lives by searching for happiness through forming meaningful personal relationships. Ethical theories about happiness formulated by Aristotle in The Nicomachean Ethics were influential, but came into conflict with theology, especially Augustine’s emphasis on original sin. Aquinas attempted to reconcile philosophy with theology, offering hope that a limited form of happiness might be found in this life. Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas were formative influences on the ways in which Shakespeare dramatizes the search for happiness in his comedies, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. He reflects the influence of Aristotle in his representation and evaluation of different types of happiness in the comedies. He also creates fallen political and religious worlds in which his characters must grapple with adversity. Aristotle believed that happiness was dependent on living in a benign political state. Living in fallen worlds, some of Shakespeare’s characters demonstrate an aspect of happiness that Aristotle did not address, that it is a condition that can be achieved through adversity

Spenser’s Narrative Figuration of Women in The Faerie Queene

Concentrating on major figures of women in The Faerie Queene, together with the figures constellated around them, Anderson\u27s Narrative Figuration explores the contribution of Spenser\u27s epic romance to an appreciation of women\u27s plights and possibilities in the age of Elizabeth. The figures she highlights encompass the idealization of Una, humanized by parody; the historicized fixation of Belphoebe; the cross-dressed complexity of Britomart; and the psychological misery of Serena, a throwback to Amoret. They range from cartoons to a fullness sharing numerous features with the Shakespearean women salient in recent debates about character. The critical lens most revealing for each important figure is markedly different, even while their interwoven experiences resonate and intersect across this culturally encyclopedic poem. Taken together, their stories have a meaningful tale to tell about the function of narrative, which proves central to figuration in the still moving, metamorphic poem that Spenser created.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_rmemc/1000/thumbnail.jp

Obiter Dicta

"Stitched together over five years of journaling, Obiter Dicta is a commonplace book of freewheeling explorations representing the transcription of a dozen notebooks, since painstakingly reimagined for publication. Organized after Theodor Adorno’s Minima Moralia, this unschooled exercise in aesthetic thought—gleefully dilettantish, oftentimes dangerously close to the epigrammatic—interrogates an array of subject matter (although inescapably circling back to the curiously resemblant histories of Western visual art and instrumental music) through the lens of drive-by speculation. Erick Verran’s approach to philosophical inquiry follows the brute-force literary technique of Jacques Derrida to exhaustively favor the material grammar of a signifier over hand-me-down meaning, juxtaposing outer semblances with their buried systems and our etched-in-stone intuitions about color and illusion, shape and value, with lessons stolen from seemingly unrelatable disciplines. Interlarded with extracts of Ludwig Wittgenstein but also Wallace Stevens, Cormac McCarthy as well as Roland Barthes, this cache of incidental remarks eschews what’s granular for the biggest picture available, leaving below the hyper-specialized fields of academia for a bird’s-eye view of their crop circles. Obiter Dicta is an unapologetic experiment in intellectual dot-connecting that challenges much long-standing wisdom about everything from illuminated manuscripts to Minecraft and the evolution of European music with lyrical brevity; that is, before jumping to the next topic.