Kevork Antabian

Prof. Collins
12/3/15
English 115
Progression 3
Prompt: For the third, and final essay of the semester, you will construct an argumentative essay
in which you take a stance on a topic extracted from our text, "Do Androids Dream of Electric
Sheep", provide support for your stance, and acknowledge your opposition in a well thought out
essay. Your primary objective for this paper will be to make a well informed, carefully
considered contribution to an ongoing conversation or debate about your topic. But remember, as
always, your idea must be the dominant idea in the paper. Your source material is meant to
support you and add to your credibility as a researcher and a scholar.
Topic: Empathy
What makes something sentient? Is it their ability communicate? is it their ability to
process logic? Or is it their ability to comprehend empathy? The novel "Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep" attempts to answer this conundrum. Empathy is a very profound emotion as well
as an ideal in some cases. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" uses this concept throughout
most of, if not all of the story. However, The book uses empathy as a way to play with the
definition of humanity or morality. It plays with this concept and shows the complexity of such
an emotion. The main argument presented in the book is are androids capable of empathy. This
raised another argument as well; are androids the same as humans? If so, what makes something
human? These questions are only some of the several moral dilemmas presented to the readers in
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". Some may argue that a machine does what its
programmed to do. With that logic, said opposition would go on to say that the androids in " Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" do not have "authentic" emotions. However, that statement is
simply not true. There is no such thing as a fake emotion, even if its programmed. These claims
border on the racism and oppressive ideals that were exhibited during the days of slavery and Jim
Crowe here in the U.S. Emotions are emotions, emotions are what makes something a person.
Emotions are what determines whether or not we are alive or not.
From what I've gathered from the book, it seems almost as if androids never get to learn
empathy. Not only is their lifespan limited to 4 years, but the androids also are thrown into a
world filled with only utter hatred and discrimination towards their kind. These androids are not
only treated as lesser beings, they are actively hunted by humans. The world that these androids
live in are not the same conditions that us humans do, so how can one expect them to have the
same emotions and the same empathy as we do? Roy, one of the nexus-6 androids, is a good
example of the world these androids live in. Roy is an angry, hateful, and almost methodical
android. He proposes the murder of Isidore in such a disturbingly matter-of-fact way right, and
he does this right in front of Isidore! There is another character that is almost as android as Roy,
ironic enough it's our human bounty hunter protagonist(?) Rick.

Rick Deckard exhibits a lot of the same characteristics as Roy. See, Roy hates humans.
Rick sees no worth in androids. Roy sees them as week animals who have no grasp on empathy
or mercy. Rick sees them as replaceable pieces of technology. Roy sees humans the way humans
see androids. Rick embodies how humans see androids. They both also have Rs in their name too
but that's not relevant to the point I'm trying to establish. Ricks character is a very important one
in this book. See, Rick is a human who exhibits a lack of empathy for androids, while Roy is the
polar opposite. Yet, Roy shows empathy toward the other androids, and so does Rick later in the
book (albeit said empathy is short lived). This proves that empathy is subjective. Though this
empathy may be selfish in nature, selfishness seems to be a very human emotion.
Sentience is defined as the ability to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively. This
means something has to be able to experience life via feelings, tastes, or opinions. Basically
sentience has to do with being conscious and being self aware.. However, some would define
sentience as the ability to experience sensations like love and betrayal. What really makes
sentience significant though is how deeply associated it is with humanity and human nature. One
thing that's always been deeply associated with human nature and several philosophical ideals
relating to it is the concept of selfishness.
Examples of empathy in our current world is about as prominent as examples of
selfishness. The two seem to go hand in hand in modern society. Almost every day I see someone
showing empathy in both little or big ways. However, I also see people engaging in selfish acts
too. Sometimes I catch myself doing a bit of both. Rick represents this in a sense in the book.
Rick starts off being a self centered and overall uncaring character, he sees no significance in the
androids he hunts and only wishes to make more money so he can further his own personal life.
He then meets the android Rachael, who gives his insight on how the androids live. However,
Rachael seduced Rick, Rachael lied to him so that he would stop killing her kind and through
extension, her family. Rachael, an android, an artificial machine made to replicate" a human is
capable of one of the most basic forms of human emotion. See sentiency shouldn't be limited to
only organic organisms, sentiency is a part of reality and evolution.
As a society, we see empathy as a common thing among us and we seem to ignore or
forget that it even exists. We tend to focus more on the negative and delve into our own selfish
desires, just as human nature dictates. Despite our distractions as a species and our selfish
tendencies, we naturally develop a form of empathy as we grow. The androids even developed
this empathy despite their short lifespan, albeit only to one another. But who can really blame
them? These androids are thrown into a world of hate and oppression, their only form of kind
interaction was with their fellow android. The same tends to occur with humans. In high school,
clicks tend to form when people of common interest congregate and interact. The same can be
said about some gangs and even some organizations. These people found other people who went
though the same issues as they did and thus decided to surround themselves with these people.
Nothing is born with empathy. Empathy is developed as something grows and experience. That
is how all living things congregate and that is exactly how the androids in "Do Androids Dream
of Electric Sheep" gathered together.

Human nature is imperfect, but so is the world we live in. Empathy's main consequence is
its susceptibility to naivety. Selfishness is socially looked down upon. Yet both are part of what
human nature naturally is. Empathy, as shown in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" can
allow people to take advantage of your kindness, like when Rachael seduces Rick. However,
Rachael's selfish decision ends up getting her entire family "retired" by Rick. This act incites
another very human emotion, anger and the desire for revenge. Rachael loses her entire family to
the very man she was trying to stop. So in an act of truly human anger, she kills Rick's goat (that
was not fully paid off, effectively ruining him financially). These androids show emotion just
like humans, these androids love like humans, and these androids can hate like humans.
Sentiency is something that all living things share. Empathy is an emotion developed
from experiences throughout life. However, so is selfishness. Hatred and anger is also something
developed through the same experiences. However, so is love. The androids in "Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep" show these emotions throughout the entire book, and so does Rick.
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" presents a very unique conundrum, it bring up a
question of what makes something truly alive and whether or not it matters if that life is artificial
or not. It presents a social debate that argues over whether a programmed consciousness is an
authentic consciousness. In truth, humanity won't know the answer to this debate for a very long
time. It is after all, a difficult question to answer as well as a question for the future. All we can
do now is look at the evidence presented and judge for ourselves. In my opinion, yes, these
androids are exactly the same as humans. They act like us, they talk like us, and they think like
us. They were however, treated differently because of their origins. They were oppressed for
something they cannot control. And they were hated for wanting to exist in peace. But that's just
my own personal opinion. Judge for yourself.

Work Sited Page

-http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sentient
-http://www.gradesaver.com/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep/study-guide/character-list
-http://www.livescience.com/39481-time-to-declare-animal-sentience.html
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_nature
-http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/08/is-human-nature-fundamentally-selfish-or-altruistic/
-http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-hobbes-9340461
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep%3F