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University of Pardubice Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Technological Progress in the Works of Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick Master Thesis 2020 Šárka Štěpánková Prohlašuji: Tuto práci jsem vypracovala samostatně. Veškeré literární prameny a informace, které jsem v práci využila, jsou uvedeny v seznamu použité literatury. Byla jsem seznámena s tím, že se na moji práci vztahují práva a povinnosti vyplývající ze zákona č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů, zejména se skutečností, že Univerzita Pardubice má právo na uzavření licenční smlouvy o užití této práce jako školního díla podle § 60 odst. 1 autorského zákona, a s tím, že pokud dojde k užití této práce mnou nebo bude poskytnuta licence o užití jinému subjektu, je Univerzita Pardubice oprávněna ode mne požadovat přiměřený příspěvek na úhradu nákladů, které na vytvoření díla vynaložila, a to podle okolností až do jejich skutečné výše. Beru na vědomí, že v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb., o vysokých školách a o změně a doplnění dalších zákonů (zákon o vysokých školách), ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a směrnicí Univerzity Pardubice č. 7/2019 Pravidla pro odevzdávání, zveřejňování a formální úpravu závěrečných prací, ve znění pozdějších dodatků, bude práce zveřejněna prostřednictvím Digitální knihovny Univerzity Pardubice. V Pardubicích dne 22.11. 2020 Šárka Štěpánková ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, doc. Mgr. Šárka Bubíková, Ph.D., for her valuable and helpful advice and guidance. ANNOTATION The master thesis focuses on the depiction of technological progress in the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick and selected short stories from the collection The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov. The theoretical part defines the genre of science fiction and provides an overview of its history. It also explains how technological progress and artificial intelligence have typically been portrayed in science fiction. The paper subsequently examines and compares how the two authors portray advanced technologies, particularly robots and androids. KEYWORDS android, robot, technology, science fiction, progress NÁZEV Technologický pokrok v díle Isaaca Asimova a Philipa K. Dicka ANOTACE Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na zobrazení technologického pokroku v románu Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? od Philipa K. Dicka a ve vybraných povídkách ze sbírky The Complete Robot od Isaaca Asimova. Teoretická část práce definuje žánr science fiction a poskytuje přehled jeho historie. Rovněž vysvětluje, jak jsou technologický pokrok a umělá inteligence obvykle zobrazovány v science fiction. Práce dále zkoumá a porovnává, jak tito dva autoři vyobrazují pokročilé technologie, zejména roboty a androidy. KLÍČOVÁ SLOVA android, robot, technologie, science fiction, pokrok Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 1 The Genre of Science Fiction ........................................................................................... 10 2 History of Science Fiction ................................................................................................ 14 3 Work of Isaac Asimov ...................................................................................................... 20 4 Work of Philip K. Dick ..................................................................................................... 22 5 Technological Progress in Science Fiction ....................................................................... 24 6 Technological Devices in Asimov’s and Dick’s Works ................................................... 30 7 Artificial Intelligence in Science Fiction .......................................................................... 35 7.1 Forms of Artificial Intelligence ................................................................................. 38 7.2 Robots as Slaves ........................................................................................................ 44 7.3 Rights of Robots ........................................................................................................ 49 7.4 Robots As a Threat .................................................................................................... 57 8 Genre Analysis .................................................................................................................. 68 9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 69 10 Resumé ............................................................................................................................. 72 11 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 76 Introduction One of the topics which are commonly explored in science fiction is technological progress. However, the attitudes of science fiction authors toward progress in technology differ. While some writers are optimistic about advanced technologies and describe them as helpful, others portray them as a threat to humanity.1 One of the technologies which often appear in science fiction works is artificial intelligence. Due to the differing opinions on technological progress, artificial intelligence may be described as benevolent and useful, or as a menace. This master thesis focuses on the depiction of technological progress in science fiction, a genre of popular literature. The aim of the thesis is to analyze how the authors Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick portray advanced technologies, especially artificial intelligence. The subject matter is examined through an analysis of Asimov’s short stories collected in The Complete Robot and Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. In the works, the authors describe technologically advanced societies in which humans make use of various devices and machines. The thesis shortly examines some of the technologies and subsequently explores the way artificial intelligence is depicted. The intent of the analysis is to identify the similarities and differences between Asimov’s and Dick’s portrayal of sophisticated technologies. The first chapter, “The Genre of Science Fiction,” defines the literary genre. The origin of the term “science fiction” is explained and the problems with defining the genre are summarized. Subsequently, the chapter offers several definitions by different authors and academics and identifies the features which they share. Science fiction is also associated with several themes, which are shortly listed. In the second chapter, the history of science fiction is briefly outlined. The chapter describes the development of the genre from the utopian texts of the 17th century to the Golden Age of Science Fiction and the New Wave. The period from the 1970’s until the 21st century is then also summarized. The next two chapters concentrate on the two authors of science fiction whose works are analyzed in this thesis. The chapter “Work of Isaac Asimov” introduces the writer Isaac Asimov. This section provides an overview of the author’s writing career, his most important works and the themes and topics which appear in his stories and novels. Subsequently, the fourth chapter, “Work of Philip K. Dick,” presents the writing of the author Philip K. Dick and describes the themes in his works. 1 David Seed, Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 47. 8 The fifth chapter is entitled “Technological Progress in Science Fiction.” Authors of science fiction often adopt either the viewpoint that technology is a menace, or they see technological progress as beneficial for humanity. The chapter examines these two views and then describes historical portrayal of technological progress in science fiction. The next chapter, “Technological Devices in Asimov’s And Dick’s Works,” explores how Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick portray technologies other than artificial intelligence. The chapter first explains how spaceships are typically portrayed in science fiction, and then explores the spaceships in Asimov’s short stories “Risk” and “Escape!”. Science fiction also commonly takes place in a technologically advanced city. Therefore, the chapter briefly explains how cities are usually depicted and subsequently focuses on the city in Dick’s novel and the technologies which his characters use. From that point forward, the thesis focuses on artificial intelligence. The chapter “Artificial Intelligence in Science Fiction” defines the terms “artificial intelligence,” “robot” and “android,” and describes the history of robots in science fiction. The chapter is then divided into four subchapters. The first one is entitled “Forms of Artificial Intelligence” and examines what Asimov and Dick’s robots look like. The subchapter also analyzes how humans react to the robots and their appearance and explores relationships between the machines and people. The following subchapter, “Robots as Slaves,” analyzes how robots in The Complete Robot and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? are used by humans and what tasks they perform. In the third subchapter, “Rights of Robots,” the thesis focuses on how humans treat the robots and how the intelligent machines perceive their status in society. The subchapter also examines the issue of robot emancipation
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