Ayala 1

Andree Ayala
Prof. Collins
English 115
2 Dec 2015
The Argumentative Essay: Empathy
In the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, empathy is the
main theme. It is said in the novel that Androids are simply cyborgs that do
not show any sign of empathy, therefore should not be treated as humans
beings. Although the main concept in the novel is to show that every
character must deal with what it means to be empathetic and whether that
allows someone to be valued as a living thing, I believe that the Androids
show empathy in many circumstances. The main question everyone is
wondering is, do androids have the ability to feel empathy or is empathy only
a human emotion in the novel? If Androids really show empathy like humans
do, they clearly have similarities that should allow cyborgs to be treated just
as equal as us.
Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense
other peoples emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone
else might be thinking or feeling. There is generally two types of empathy,
Affective Empathy and Cognitive Empathy. In the article What is
Empathy? by UC Berkeley researchers, it is said that affective empathy,
refers to the sensations and feelings we get in response to others emotions;

Ayala 2
this can include mirroring what that person is feeling or just feeling stressed
when we detect anothers fear or anxiety. As for cognitive empathy it refers
to our ability to identify and understand other peoples emotions. Can
Androids feel this sort of empathy just like humans do?
There are plenty of people that believe Androids or cyborgs do not
show any type of empathy, therefore should not be treated like humans.
Some might say that it is not possible for Androids to have the same equality
as humans because they have no emotion, yet in the novel Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep they show empathy in many circumstances. The
following quote is an example of the use of emotion in the novel: I never felt
like that before. Maybe it could be depression, like you get. I can understand
how you suffer now when youre depressed; I always thought you liked it and
thought you could have snapped yourself out any time, if not alone then by
means of the mood organ. But when you get that depressed you dont care.
Apathy, because youve lost a sense of worth. It doesnt matter whether you
feel better because you have no worth. The humans in the novel believe
that lack of empathy is the main difference between the androids and
themselves. Yet they seem to have more similarities than differences so why
are they not treated equally?
An example where Androids seem to show empathy in the novel is
through the Voight-Kampff Empathy test. The bounty hunters use this test to
determine if a subject was actually an android or not. The test consists of
asking a series of questions that would show ones empathy to prove that

Ayala 3
they were human. Androids are assumed to not have empathy, so they
should not pass the test, however the Nexus 6 models have proved to be
much more like humans by passing the test. In the novel when Rick first
meets Rachael she believes that she is human, but after Rick gives her the
Empathy test its turns out she is actually an android. Surprisingly enough
later on in the novel she feels enough to kill Ricks goat because he claimed
he loved it more than his own wife, let alone Rachael herself. This shows that
she feels jealousy, hinting empathy.
Another example of an android showing empathy is when the opera
singer, Miss Luft shows emotion. She is a passionate opera singer who seems
to enjoy performing and wants to be accepted by the people. To me, this a
perfect example of a characteristic of empathy. A lot of the newer Nexus 6
androids all show that they feel, therefore have some sort of empathy
within them.
There is plenty of evidence that suggests that androids do in fact have
some form of empathy and feelings. In the novel I find it ironic how the
humans seem to be the ones to lack empathy themselves and suddenly are
becoming less human. How much empathy do the androids need to show
for the humans to realize they have just as equal empathy? Will androids and
humans ever be equally treated?

Ayala 4

Works Cited
Dick, Philip K., and Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New.
Scott,John. Access to Restricted Resources. CSUN Library. N.p., n.d.
Web. 9 Dec. 2015.