Chapter 1 – “Identification, There Goes I”
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The Electric Animal That Therefore I Am Not; Empathy, Animals and Androids in Philip K. Dicks “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” Author – Mart Beemster Student Number – 10347259 Supervisor – Joyce Goggin MA Thesis Literary Studies, English University of Amsterdam 29 June 2018 1 Abstract The question of what it means to be human is one that science fiction literature often poses, and, as is the case with speculative fiction, gives a multitude of answers to. In this thesis, I will look at Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep whilst focusing on the notions of posthuman as presented by Rosi Braidotti, N Katherine Hayles, and Donna Haraway. I will argue that the inclusion of a new Other, the android, presents humankind with beings who appear to encompass the ideals of Western Humanism, which in turn gives humankind the possibility to reflect on their own nature. Problematizing the binaries and hegemony seen in Western Humanism, I will claim that the introduction of the android is the final step towards a posthuman future in both philosophical and physical sense. To do so, I will discuss Deleuze’s notion of depth and surface to present the manner in which androids create their identity and how this is different from humans. Secondly, I will present the change that J. R. Isidore undergoes throughout the novel to show his change to posthuman. Finally, I examine the problematic binary division between rationality and empathy through the notion of “the Animal” and a discussion of Mercerism. What I will show is that the android functions as a catalysts for human identity towards what Foucault calls “the Death of Man” and a posthuman future. Acknowledgement The author of this thesis hereby indicates that he has read and agrees with the UvA guidelines on plagiarism and that this thesis has been written accordingly. This thesis is solely the work of the author. 2 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 1 – “Identification, There Goes I” .............................................................................. 7 Chapter 2 – “To Him They’re all Alive, False Animals Included”......................................... 17 Chapter 3 “The Whole Experience of Empathy is a Swindle” ............................................... 27 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 36 Works cited .......................................................................................................................... 40 3 Introduction “When we can’t dream any longer, we die” Emma Goldman This quote from Emma Goldman is perhaps the crux of human life. The capability to see beyond the present and to envision a future is what allows us, as a species and as an individual, to keep progressing. As humans are continuously reshaping their future, it is necessary to look at the way human nature changes with the technological advances which are ever more present in daily life. One way to look at the human condition is through literature, especially science fiction and speculative fiction. Engaging with the discussion on human nature, this thesis will discuss the creation of identity as the manner in which one understands themselves is central to the way we view others. Rather than dealing with the relation between humans, this thesis will look at that between the human and the non-human. As I hint at in the title, the human-non-human animal distinction is not new. Rephrasing the title from Jacques Derrida’s The Animal That Therefore I Am, this thesis uses the notions that are seen throughout philosophy to apply them to a more contemporary ‘Other’, namely the android. Here, and throughout this thesis, I use the notion of the Other as a philosophical subject, one disenfranchised by the ruling class. By presenting the android as an Other I do not wish to diminish the narratives of colonial or gendered Others. Rather, by showing the android as Other I will show that the Western hegemony is outdated. Importantly, I want to note that the android itself does not yet exist as a fully functional being. It is therefore that this thesis uses one of the more influential and more philosophical novels on androids, namely Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The reason that androids are crucial for the evolving of human nature is due to the way empathy, rationality and identification have been described in connection to the human. Especially in Western thinking, binaries play a strong role in the creation of identity. This thesis will specifically focus on the Western ways of thinking, as many issues seen throughout the world like colonization and the discrimination based on gender and sex stem from these Western binary notions. While some of these binary oppositions may not be as apparent as they were during the Renaissance, their influences is still seen and felt in many ways. I here specifically note the Renaissance, as it was during the 4 14th to 17th century that a Western hegemony was established and many of the problematic notions of Humanism were born. An obvious example is gender, where the initial binary of female-male is better understood as a spectrum which in no way is fixed or static. These old ideas of binaries, however, carry many prejudices with it. For example, the idea that it was appropriate for a society to expect women to take care of the children while the men would work and be educated. Especially the ability for men to be educated caused another binary, one that coincides with the gender division. In connection to the persistent ideal of rationality present in the European Renaissance, the distinction between the rational male and the emotional female arose. This in turn denied women access to education and resulted in women being told they are overly ‘emotional’ when protesting for equal pay or the right to education. Another problematic binary is seen between humans and non-human animals. This is firstly seen through the often described ‘animals’ as a single cluster of species, with humans not being part of this. While, like many binary oppositions, this looks like a gross exaggeration it is important to understand the effects that come with it. Together with the ‘human’ – ‘all non-human animals’ distinction comes again the notion of rationality and empathy. As Derrida notes, claiming “'The Animal' in the singular and without further ado, claiming thus to designate every living thing that is held not to be human” (31) which constitutes as an opposition to “man as rational animal, man as political animal, speaking animal” (31). We see here the main distinction created between humans, especially male humans, and non-human animals, namely that of rationality. A third problematic binary can be seen in the way the Western world views different cultures. As described in Edward Said’s book ‘Orientalism’ that “European culture was able to manage –and even produce – the Orient politically, sociologically, militarily, ideologically, scientifically, and imaginatively during the post-Enlightenment period” (1868). Europe created an Other in ‘the Orient’ from which “European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient” (1868), meaning that by the negative representation of Oriental countries the European culture claimed itself superior, which in turn strengthened the notion of Orientalism. It furthermore created a generic view of the Other, presenting all Asian countries and cultures as identical. This generic view of non-western cultures, and the previously described binaries of gender and “The Animal” brings about an important aspect when it comes to androids. An error often made while discussion the human condition in opposition to that of androids is the expectation that there is a singular way to be human. The 5 perspective, often rather white and rather male, lacks to see the diversity that exists in the human race. While it may seem contradicting that this thesis does discus a novel “filled with white men doing white men things”, as Nnedi Okorafor notes of Western science fiction in an interview with OkayAfrica, I do precisely that to point at these outdated binaries that remain present in more modern and contemporary cultural discourse. Dick, who used writing as a platform to pose philosophical questions, often played with precognitive notions on humanity. While presenting the reader with these tropes, the novel poses them as problematic and often shows a drastic change in the character's thoughts and manners throughout the story. It is this change in character that this thesis will pose as main component of the novel. To do so, I will go beyond the notion as often present in Western philosophy, and create an understanding of how Dick presents us with a way to question traditional Humanist thought and in turn presents us with a posthumanist philosophy through technology in general and the android in specific. In order to present this posthuman philosophy, I will initially discus the way androids create their sense of identity and the way this is different from humans. In doing so, I will show that androids have similar innate drives, in the Freudian sense, to keep them functioning, but in a different way from humans. This in turn causes a new, second mirror stage like event, in the development of humans in general. To show this second mirror stage, I will discuss the Nexus-6 androids from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, starting with the character of Rachel Rosen, as her process of consciousness is exemplary for the creation of identity in the android and difference it has to humans. Throughout this thesis I will refer to “the android”, with which I indicate specifically the Nexus-6 androids, rather than falling into the same pitfall as Derrida describes with “The Animal” and using the android as singular, universal signifier. With that in mind, I will turn to J. R. Isidore, a so called ‘chickenhead’ who, through technology and interaction with the android Pris, changes what it means to be human.