Focusing on the ethical implications of human-robot interaction, the book examines the distinctions between human and robot agency. It emphasizes the necessity for responsible coordination and collaboration between humans and robots, advocating for a framework that addresses these differences to foster ethical relationships in technology use.
"This book is part of the series This is Philosophy. The title of this series is inspired by a series of very popular jazz albums that Columbia Records used to put out. It was called This is Jazz. Different albums in that series introduced listeners to the greats of jazz, such as Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and so on. The aim was to give listeners who might previously have been unfamiliar with jazz music samples of the best jazz performances by great artists, such as the ones just mentioned and many others. This inspired many people to go on and also listen to the deep-cuts and explore the catalogues of these artists in greater detail"
This book offers new readings of Kant’s “universal law” and “humanity” formulations of the categorical imperative. It shows how, on these readings, the formulas do indeed turn out being alternative statements of the same basic moral law, and in the process responds to many of the standard objections raised against Kant’s theory. Its first chapter briefly explores the ways in which Kant draws on his philosophical predecessors such as Plato (and especially Plato’s Republic) and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. The second chapter offers a new reading of the relation between the universal law and humanity formulas by relating both of these to a third formula of Kant’s, viz. the “law of nature” formula, and also to Kant’s ideas about laws in general and human nature in particular. The third chapter considers and rejects some influential recent attempts to understand Kant’s argument for the humanity formula, and offers an alternative reconstruction instead. Chapter four considers what it is to flourish as a human being in line with Kant’s basic formulas of morality, and argues that the standard readings of the humanity formula cannot properly account for its relation to Kant’s views about the highest human good.