Category: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

The 1968 fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick warns readers of possible consequences of the moral decay in modern community and reminds them of their responsibility for the environment. Contrasting androids and human society in his fiction novel, Dick attempts to define the inherently human qualities and real life values.

The depiction of empathy as the feeling characteristic of humans only and thus distinguishing them from other living beings can be regarded as the major underpinning of the whole plot of the book under consideration.

Disregarding the peculiarities of the science fiction genre chosen by the author, the motive of feeling and not feeling empathy towards other creatures conveys an important philosophical message. Thus, the fact that humans living after the World War Terminus need to buy real animals for demonstrating their ability to feel empathy proves that they themselves hesitate in it.

The feeling of empathy is put into the basis of their religion Mercerism and the so-called Voigt-Kampff test used for distinguishing between humans and androids. However, this approach shows the lack of true feelings in the human race and reflects the authors criticism of the moral decay in modern community. Thus, overemphasizing the importance of feeling empathy, the book characters look for the empathy experience for its own sake.

Using the empathy boxes and buying real animals for the purpose of generating feelings, the characters lose their humanness. Rick Recard, one of the main characters works as a bounty hunter and killing androids who came to earth from Mars is his daily job. However, he dreams of having a real sheep instead of his electric one for showing his empathy and improving his social status. Buying a real animal becomes obsession to Rick: My job requires it, he thought, scraping bottom.

Prestige. We couldnt go on with the electric sheep any longer, it sapped my morale (Dick 168). This inner monologue reflects the stream of consciousness of the main character who feels his inferiority due to inability to own a real animal. Making empathy the main value in the fiction community, Dick expresses his criticism of the moral decay in modern society and the lack of real feelings in humans.

The difficulties of distinguishing between real and artificial, sincere and hypocritical are one more important moral message which can be read between the lines of the book under consideration.

Actually, the authors goal is not limited to distinguishing between humans and androids, real and electric animals, but is rather extended to defining the true values of life. Thus, after it is cleared out that Mercerism was a fake religion that was engineered by Hollywood filmmakers, the author does not diminish its value, on the contrary, explains how precious this belief is for the spiritual guidance of humans.

The characters of the book are in constant search of true feelings and values, but using the mechanical methods for saying real from artificial and good from bad, they fail to reach their goal. The episode in which the android Luft admires a picture before being arrested and violently killed by human Resch motivates not only Rick observing the situation but also all the readers to reappraise their values concerning empathy as inherently human quality.

Observing how Resh kills Luft in cold blood just for the sake of killing, Rick even doubts whether his colleague is human and conducts the Voigt-Kampff test. Regardless of the fact that according to the results of the test Resch appears to be human, his prior behavior demonstrates the opposite and shakes Ricks beliefs.

Getting accustomed to hypocrisy and artificiality of the surrounding world, main characters lose their faith in existence of something real. The exclamation of Ricks wife Iran who looks at the goat under different angles and still hesitates whether it is real demonstrates the level of her disbelief. Is it really real? she asked. Its not false? (Dick 169).

Repeating the word real two times and its antonym false in such a short phrase, the woman expresses her doubts because after being deceived so many times, she does not give faith even to her own eyes. Parallel to the idea of distinguishing between real and artificial, the author outlines the message of telling good from bad which is even more important for the modern community.

Developing the idea of defining the true values, Dick communicates the idea of feeling empathy towards all living beings, including androids and criticizes the biased views of the majority of his characters. Actually, there are only several humans, including John with mental disability and Rick who realize that the feeling of empathy should not be limited to other humans and animals only.

The principle of killing Androids despite of the overall call for empathy as the main principle of Mercerism reflects the authors indirect criticism of the worlds religions. In fact, as opposed to the proclaimed principles of unification and spiritual development, some religions encourage killing people of other faith. Mercerism is the fiction representation of this drawback of the modern community.

Only Rick and mentally disable John doubt the appropriateness of this approach and have true feelings towards androids. The final scenes of the book in which Rick finds a toad and hopes that it is real but then is disappointed at discovering that it is mechanical express the authors main idea. Finally, Rick realizes that he can feel empathy towards the mechanical animal as if it were real.

This final conclusion of the main character can be regarded as the main moral message of the whole book, implying that distinguishing between real and mechanical should not become an end in itself and the definition of human nature is much broader than ability to feel empathy and should not be limited to it solely. The philosophical meaning of the title Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is comparison between humans who are possessed with the idea of buying real animals and androids who try to survive.

Moreover, the question posed in the title of the book under consideration motivates readers to think of androids, their dreams and the reasons for which they escape from Mars to earth. The ability to feel empathy towards androids which is not dictated by religion and community can be regarded as true feeling and the main feature that is really human.

In general, it can be concluded that behind the frame of science fiction genre, Dick hides philosophical issues of defining humanness and real values. Depicting androids in contrast to human bounty hunters, the author criticizes the peoples attempts to justify their cruelty by engineering religion or other fake beliefs.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip. Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Del Rey Mass Market Edition, 2007. Print.

The 1968 fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick warns readers of possible consequences of the moral decay in modern community and reminds them of their responsibility for the environment. Contrasting androids and human society in his fiction novel, Dick attempts to define the inherently human qualities and real life values.

The depiction of empathy as the feeling characteristic of humans only and thus distinguishing them from other living beings can be regarded as the major underpinning of the whole plot of the book under consideration.

Disregarding the peculiarities of the science fiction genre chosen by the author, the motive of feeling and not feeling empathy towards other creatures conveys an important philosophical message. Thus, the fact that humans living after the World War Terminus need to buy real animals for demonstrating their ability to feel empathy proves that they themselves hesitate in it.

The feeling of empathy is put into the basis of their religion Mercerism and the so-called Voigt-Kampff test used for distinguishing between humans and androids. However, this approach shows the lack of true feelings in the human race and reflects the authors criticism of the moral decay in modern community. Thus, overemphasizing the importance of feeling empathy, the book characters look for the empathy experience for its own sake.

Using the empathy boxes and buying real animals for the purpose of generating feelings, the characters lose their humanness. Rick Recard, one of the main characters works as a bounty hunter and killing androids who came to earth from Mars is his daily job. However, he dreams of having a real sheep instead of his electric one for showing his empathy and improving his social status. Buying a real animal becomes obsession to Rick: My job requires it, he thought, scraping bottom.

Prestige. We couldnt go on with the electric sheep any longer, it sapped my morale (Dick 168). This inner monologue reflects the stream of consciousness of the main character who feels his inferiority due to inability to own a real animal. Making empathy the main value in the fiction community, Dick expresses his criticism of the moral decay in modern society and the lack of real feelings in humans.

The difficulties of distinguishing between real and artificial, sincere and hypocritical are one more important moral message which can be read between the lines of the book under consideration.

Actually, the authors goal is not limited to distinguishing between humans and androids, real and electric animals, but is rather extended to defining the true values of life. Thus, after it is cleared out that Mercerism was a fake religion that was engineered by Hollywood filmmakers, the author does not diminish its value, on the contrary, explains how precious this belief is for the spiritual guidance of humans.

The characters of the book are in constant search of true feelings and values, but using the mechanical methods for saying real from artificial and good from bad, they fail to reach their goal. The episode in which the android Luft admires a picture before being arrested and violently killed by human Resch motivates not only Rick observing the situation but also all the readers to reappraise their values concerning empathy as inherently human quality.

Observing how Resh kills Luft in cold blood just for the sake of killing, Rick even doubts whether his colleague is human and conducts the Voigt-Kampff test. Regardless of the fact that according to the results of the test Resch appears to be human, his prior behavior demonstrates the opposite and shakes Ricks beliefs.

Getting accustomed to hypocrisy and artificiality of the surrounding world, main characters lose their faith in existence of something real. The exclamation of Ricks wife Iran who looks at the goat under different angles and still hesitates whether it is real demonstrates the level of her disbelief. Is it really real? she asked. Its not false? (Dick 169).

Repeating the word real two times and its antonym false in such a short phrase, the woman expresses her doubts because after being deceived so many times, she does not give faith even to her own eyes. Parallel to the idea of distinguishing between real and artificial, the author outlines the message of telling good from bad which is even more important for the modern community.

Developing the idea of defining the true values, Dick communicates the idea of feeling empathy towards all living beings, including androids and criticizes the biased views of the majority of his characters. Actually, there are only several humans, including John with mental disability and Rick who realize that the feeling of empathy should not be limited to other humans and animals only.

The principle of killing Androids despite of the overall call for empathy as the main principle of Mercerism reflects the authors indirect criticism of the worlds religions. In fact, as opposed to the proclaimed principles of unification and spiritual development, some religions encourage killing people of other faith. Mercerism is the fiction representation of this drawback of the modern community.

Only Rick and mentally disable John doubt the appropriateness of this approach and have true feelings towards androids. The final scenes of the book in which Rick finds a toad and hopes that it is real but then is disappointed at discovering that it is mechanical express the authors main idea. Finally, Rick realizes that he can feel empathy towards the mechanical animal as if it were real.

This final conclusion of the main character can be regarded as the main moral message of the whole book, implying that distinguishing between real and mechanical should not become an end in itself and the definition of human nature is much broader than ability to feel empathy and should not be limited to it solely. The philosophical meaning of the title Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is comparison between humans who are possessed with the idea of buying real animals and androids who try to survive.

Moreover, the question posed in the title of the book under consideration motivates readers to think of androids, their dreams and the reasons for which they escape from Mars to earth. The ability to feel empathy towards androids which is not dictated by religion and community can be regarded as true feeling and the main feature that is really human.

In general, it can be concluded that behind the frame of science fiction genre, Dick hides philosophical issues of defining humanness and real values. Depicting androids in contrast to human bounty hunters, the author criticizes the peoples attempts to justify their cruelty by engineering religion or other fake beliefs.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip. Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Del Rey Mass Market Edition, 2007. Print.

Observation

After going through the summary of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, one of the main points that stands out clearly is that people in the novel are quick to judge others simply because they are different from them. For example, Rick has a strong belief that since androids are not similar to human beings, they are thus incapable of having empathy. However, he is shocked to find that androids have empathy, which may lack in human beings.

Rick loathes his electric sheep for the simple reason, he feels it is incapable of loving him so he does not take care of it; therefore, he sets out to do his experiment to see whether androids are capable of being empathetic or not. What impresses me a lot is that animals like herbivores and omnivores have an empathetic impulse. Many people like me believe that animals are incapable of having feelings similar to those of human beings. However, the novel proves it wrong as Rick realizes that omnivores and herbivores are the only animals that possess empathetic impulse.

It can be said that empathy is a great feeling that enables human beings to be in a position to interact well with others, which in return facilitates their survival. However, just as Rick finds out, some human beings do not have empathy. For example, a lack of empathy emerges when Phil Resch, who is discovered by Rick, shows signs of having great satisfaction in killing without any authentic reason for that.

Rick is thus shocked to learn that in some cases, androids have empathetic feelings towards each other even though they are non-living as compared to human beings who in some cases have no empathy whatsoever. Lack of empathy in human beings is an awful thing since it makes people live in fear of what the other might do; this aspect explains why numerous murder cases are being constantly reported.

Regrettably, these murders occur because of heartless people who lack empathy. The society is thus a rotten one where people have to lock houses, have weapons in the house to defend themselves, and possess many other defensive tools just because people are not empathetic.

The other point that stands out for me is the power of mind control depicted in the summary. For instance, in the novel, people are under the control of the government so that they can come up with binary oppositions. Therefore, the government advises people to relocate to Mars since there is an American colony there that has been founded. One good example is that of Buster, where he controls people’s minds through mass media so that he can create a sub-reality.

Just like in the novel, in the contemporary world, people are always under the influence of mind control, especially from the government officials and mass media. The mass media has affected the society we live into such an extent that people take everything that the Bible says as truth; this aspect has destroyed a lot of people and countries. Government officials want people to follow their policies, and so they come up with some ways to make sure that the public will not raise any questions and follow them implicitly being not aware that they are under control.

The issue of individualism as compared to collectivism also stands out conspicuously in the summary. Rick seems to be hell-bent in achieving individualism, in his wish to possess a real animal. Rosen is also seeking individualism whereby he tries to create an advanced android that will not rely on human life whatsoever since such an accomplishment would ensure the survival of the company’s finances in a competitive capitalist economy that rules major world economies. Rick also puts aside his empathy feelings, and he wants to fulfill his selfish needs of getting a real animal so that he can make his social worth known.

This desire explains why he does not have the least care for electric animals, which makes him kill them so that he can get money. Rosen’s great desire to ensure that his company’s well-being does not go under pushes him to do anything to achieve it, even cheating or killing the bounty hunters who are eliminating the androids, which show that apathetic people hell-bent to get money by any means without taking into consideration who or what they hurt.

After reading the novel’s summary, it is clear that the author did a tremendous job in bringing out what happens in the current contemporary world where the majority of people are not empathetic towards one another. Consequently, they concentrate on their own material values money being the most important in the list of such needs. Today, we live in a rotten society where people have no qualms with hurting others in order to get what they want. In my opinion, despite the fact that the androids in the novel are not real, they are more considerate and empathetic as compared to human beings.

Basically, the book discusses the “World War Terminus” that resulted into nuclear obliteration for the humankind. Nevertheless, there are some unique aspects of this book that are worth noting and are also attractive to tell the intended audience (the class). The remaining individuals in this society have been forced to inhabit a world that is highly polluted by radioactive elements. These have caused harm to numerous living organisms. However, according to analysts, even though these elements is an actual matter, it has been used by Rick (the author) in this book as a metaphorical scheme to represent the polluted cloud of the mind, which hinders the humankind from acknowledging and appreciating each and every form of life that exist in the society.

This book has been criticized by several reviewers, particularly with respect to the fact that there are several dissimilarities to the movie Bounty Hunter, in which there are no much issue concerning animals or electric animals of any kind. In addition, some reviewers claim that there is a certain mechanical peculiarity in the characters of androids that makes it challenging for an individual to sympathize with them. This is a critical provision when considered critically.

There are numerous unique aspects in this book that are quite attractive to tell the class. One of them lies on the fictional imminent world, in which the simple capacity to possess an animal is regarded as a representation of social status. Animal proprietorship has turned out to be the custom for all individuals remaining in the world, since the capacity to take care of and endure life has transformed into a fresh moral aspect subsequent to the destruction of several things in the war. To some extent, this can be quite hilarious of the kind of society that can possibly exit should such an occurrence be a reality. A review of the first chapter of the book indicates that every individual keeps at least an animal in petite area of grass on the rooftop of their houses. Rick ascended to the roof of his house keep an eye on his electrical sheep. Caring for the animals has developed into some kind of culture in the society and each and every person is expected to do that. This phenomenon becomes quite unique when imagined.

Actually, owning a real animal implied that a person has acquired a different status. There is an excessive extent of humiliation in Rick’s claims because all he owns is an electric sheep rather than an actual one. Sympathy is the most imperative sentiment in this future earth since it will be able to help in distinguishing the rational humans from other non-humans. It is evident that the article is informative having provided relevant information regarding the aspects of technology. The way it elaborates on the matter is commendable. It is crucial to consider such aspects in the technological realms. Investigation, compilation, and release of emerging technological information to targeted clients form lucrative provisions in this context. Analogically, android provides more than what conventional technologies are expected to contain. It is notable that the article provides the exact information needed concerning the emergence of this new technology. Concurrently, there are continuous advancements within the IT industry.

Concurrently, Rick reveals that sympathy was created as one of the development traits for caring animals like human beings to subsist. Thus, in the future world, as portrayed in this book, lives are intended to have a particular purpose. This can be either caring for other animals or other animals receiving care. However, this phenomenon is only imaginable since the androids used as a representation of animals in this book does not have the capacity to do that. Instead, they are only apprehensive about their own means of subsistence. Subsequently, this makes them to adopt other forms of life when other alternatives are absent. For example, the information given on the yet to be introduced provisions is critical and compatible with the class work as well as other relevant learning aspects with respect to information technology.

In other contexts, the advancements noticed in the book can be equated to how the field of information technology is rapidly growing with new innovations emerging quite often. Since the lessons endeavors to equip students with relevant expertise on diverse fields, the aspects of innovation and continuous advancements in the field of technology are important. They help in revolutionizing the world in the realms of communication and relay of information using modern methods. It is from this context that the entire arguments lie. The course nurtures the aspects of creativity and innovation, facts that are evident in the article with respect to the android’s case. Advisably, students are expected to be creative and use the provided information (from class work) to transform the world in diverse aspects. The information relates perfectly to most topics studied in the course by demonstrating the relevancy and applicability of some theories. This is a critical provision in the context of technological development.

Introduction

The way Philip K. Dick in his magnum opus has discussed the ‘android’ concept in context with the moral and ethical dimension; no other American author has been able to focus his personal thoughts on a particular issue among science fiction in such an intuitive manner. What he discusses is the concern of being human, what it means and feels to have all humanistic senses and capabilities, and what happens when a replica is created devoid of such emotions or feelings.

He discusses humanity throughout his novel by exploring the opposition between ‘authentic’ human beings and various ‘artificial’ beings made to imitate humans (Vint, 2007). The reader can easily analyze that Dick has presented complete research work in the form of a story by introducing two types of characters before us; one that is real and the one that is unreal. Deckard, Dave Holden, and Rachel Rosen are the characters that Dick has shaped to fulfill readers’ expectations in the scenario of an imaginary planet but which can be perceived as real.

With every human being and animal so electrical and artificial, Dick has presented every artificial organism in isolation, where it seeks some empathetic relationship with the other being but is unable to fulfill such relationship since artificialities are named by Dick as ‘androids’. Deckard when sending to search for the most advanced androids of the Nexus-6 models, he is actually seeking specific answers to matters that have been raised by the planet as a statement.

Deckard’s efforts have been constituted by the feeling of an ‘emotion’, the making of an intellectual connection, the speaking of an utterance, the passing on of a story in the real world beyond it, or the completion of another type of action in the physical world. What distinguishes this advancement from any other literary one is the self-conscious perception that readers formulate about empathy in relation to some concerns that are discussed below.

Throughout the novel, the question of what it means to be human, to be a real person, is raised on a variety of levels. But the answer emerges in relatively simple form i.e., empathy. The main character in the novel, Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter with the San Francisco police department who specializes in ‘retiring’ androids, reflects on the workings of the Voigt-Kampff test, this futuristic society’s index to distinguish between androids and humans. Basically, the test measures involuntary responses to questions about the killing of an animal or human life (Yoke, 1987, p. 194). What is obvious in the novel is the recognition that although androids surpass several classes of human specials in terms of intelligence, they do not possess an empathic personality, they do not respond.

Empathy in context with replication

The novel accepts both the artificial and real, which is evident from the significance that the real and fictitious characters uphold. However, despite so much advancement and achieving acceptance as ‘real’ phenomena, all characters except the genuine humans are replicated one way or the other. Through this, Dick has shown the lack of barrier which must have been present in the world in order to differentiate the real and unreal.

That of course has alleviated all the differences that it takes to understand ‘empathy’. So much advancement and a lot of radiation poisoning and gene damage have created over-engineered brains, which may have empathy for the rightness of even a very abstract model, but requires that training for which human claims himself to be human.

The beginning of empathy is the truth that the ‘real’ planet is a largely artifactual display with no separate parts, like humans. Every human possesses artificial replicators and is bound to pass a test in order to prove his or her existence in context with some empathy. That means if one is heavily invested in the solidity of the ordinary, to understand just how artefactual the display is, or to see a phenomenon that appears to violate the ordinary rules of the Voigt-Kampff test.

Deckard, the android hunter, and the runaway androids all have their short life-spans running out, wanting only to live, but lacking any human sense of Caritas, having absolutely no concern for any life other than their own. If they ruthlessly kill humans to survive then the humans, in the form of Deckard, are also engaging in exactly the same moral behavior in regard to them. The question upon which the story then revolves is that of who is the human and who is the android, and Dick’s criterion is a moral one. A human is a being possessed of morals and values; we define our humanity by our ability to see the mirror of that humanity in others.

That means duplications are present in the human gene which though stalks destruction but still works on androids. An android is a sentient being devoid of emotions and morals, a psychopathic creature of pure survival mechanism, incapable of empathy.

Empathy linked with Mercerism

Dick’s novel has a whole post-catastrophe world, a religion, wonderful minor characters, and humor, which is not faithful to the novel. In this perception lies either the solipsistic madness of total psychic relativity or transcendent wisdom, and the greatness of Dick as a writer, what makes him by far the greatest metaphysical novelist of all time, is that having opened the door to this ultimate spiritual, perceptual, and metaphysical chaos, he leads us through it to true wisdom along a moral vector (Spinrad, 1990, p. 89). What ultimately makes the androids in ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? less than human is not their synthetic origin, but, their lack of morals and their inability to empathize with the existential plight of other life caught in the same universe.

Mercerism is the religion Dick has presented in his novel, which collects the remnants of human culture and by providing an opportunity to practice religion through empathetic fusion, the religion makes use of the empathy box. In other words, the quality of empathy that distinguishes humans from androids appears in a variety of contexts and at the broadest level, Dick has created a religion in this society called ‘Mercerism’. Subscribers to the belief possess a small, handled box, called an ‘empathy box’, which enables empathic communication to pass through all of those currently in connection. This experience is denied to androids since they do not have empathy.

Mercerism has obvious affinities with Christianity which range from the death and resurrection of the religion’s namesake, Wilbur Mercer, to the infliction of wounds on the figurehead and the concept of fusion with the founder which is seen in Christianity through the sacrament of communion and Mercerism through fusion via the empathy box. The point of Mercerism in the structure of the novel is not that Dick is calling for a return to Christian mysticism, but rather that Mercerism is opposed to the force represented by Buster Friendly, the omnipresent media star.

For it is revealed late in the novel that the reason for Buster’s antagonism toward Mercerism is that he is an android. Early in the novel, J. R. Isidore, a human ‘special’ who is a radiation-contaminated, inferior human and who likes both Buster and Mercer, concludes that the two are in competition for their minds.

Both are fighting for control of their psychic selves. Although this realization on Isidore’s part is not further delved into by Dick and as readers can visualize that Mercerism has not given them any choice to maintain empathic contact with fellow-creatures, or by giving them over to the media manipulations of Buster Friendly, therefore they are cut off from humanity (Yoke, 1987, p. 195). It seems to be a choice between the empathy box and the idiot box.

Human relationship in context with empathetic connection to animals

On a more specific level, the idea of empathy appears in the relationship between humans and their animals. Animals as presented in the novel are sacred to the religion of Mercerism and the culture in general. Empathy arises in context with the social status when caring for an animal is considered as a symbol for expressing one’s humanity. Androids devoid of empathy do not care for other animals or androids and this inability to feel empathy is what sets them apart from humans and justifies their enslavement and execution.

Animal life is nearly extinct in this post-holocaust world, and the possession of real animals is not only a status symbol among the people of the novel but also a sign that human androids do not have pets. Part of Rick Deckard’s motivation for killing the androids who have returned to the earth is to get enough money to buy a large pet. He eventually buys a female goat which not only brings out empathic responses in him but begins the regeneration of his marriage which is on rocky ground at the novel’s start.

Empathy also appears in the form of Deckard’s attraction to Rachael Rosen, a Nexus-6 android, and his distaste for his job in the face of killing the female android, Luba Luft. Deckard and Phil Resch, another bounty hunter, corner Luba at a museum, and as a kind of the last request, she asks Deckard to buy her a reproduction of an Edvard Munch painting. Deckard does so, spending his own money for which Luba thanks him, remarking that “there’s something very strange and touching about humans, an android would never have done that” (Dick, 1967, p. 53).

Dick’s concern with emotional issues, with the metaphysics of science fiction compared to its physics, has some unfortunate by-products. One of these might be called his ‘paranoid’ vision, for what we see by the novel’s end is not simply that Rick Deckard must hunt down and kill a number of androids, but that androids are omnipresent, from electric animals to an alternate police department virtually run by robots, to the most famous media personality in the world.

Basically, the narrative thrust of “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” revolves around maneuvering Rick Deckard ever closer to his essential humanity. Deckard is first introduced as alienated from himself and from his wife, Iran which is depicted in the first scene of the novel that Deckard and Iran argue over the various settings of a mood organ. Empathy evolves here when Iran refuses to set the organ by saying that while realizing how unhealthy it seems to sense life without reaction. Empathy is the subject of the whole story when it refers to the population depletion of the earth due both to the war and to the emigration off-world by many healthy humans.

Empathy at various stages in the novel refers to different losses, for example, Deckard, when uses the mood organ, an index of his loss of emotional self-control and goes to his rooftop pen to care for his sheep, he founds the sheep is fake which is another index of Deckard’s loss of humanity.

Another empathic phase occurs when Deckard progresses with his assignment to kill six androids and the process of emotional regeneration occurs, first as he meets Phil Resch, then as he experiences sympathy for Luba Luft, and finally when he is erotically attracted to Rachael Rosen. Deckard is ultimately brought to full empathic consciousness with the help of Wilbur Mercer through a kind of transmigration with the religious figure. As the novel closes Deckard’s life and marriage have been regenerated, reborn, and out of the ashes of nuclear war, an irradiated atmosphere, a depleted population, and an increasing tendency toward emotional disinvolvement, Deckard has found a way to give meaning to life genuine, a human meaning.

Work Cited

Dick K. Philip (1967), Do androids dream of electric sheep? Ballantine Books.

Spinrad Norman, (1990) Science Fiction in the Real World: Southern Illinois University Press: Carbondale, IL.

Vint Sherryl, (2007) “Speciesism and Species Being in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” In: Mosaic. Volume: 40. Issue: 1.

Yoke B. Carl, (1987) Phoenix from the Ashes: The Literature of the Remade World: Greenwood Press: New York.

The 1968 fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick warns readers of possible consequences of the moral decay in modern community and reminds them of their responsibility for the environment. Contrasting androids and human society in his fiction novel, Dick attempts to define the inherently human qualities and real life values.

The depiction of empathy as the feeling characteristic of humans only and thus distinguishing them from other living beings can be regarded as the major underpinning of the whole plot of the book under consideration.

Disregarding the peculiarities of the science fiction genre chosen by the author, the motive of feeling and not feeling empathy towards other creatures conveys an important philosophical message. Thus, the fact that humans living after the World War Terminus need to buy real animals for demonstrating their ability to feel empathy proves that they themselves hesitate in it.

The feeling of empathy is put into the basis of their religion Mercerism and the so-called Voigt-Kampff test used for distinguishing between humans and androids. However, this approach shows the lack of true feelings in the human race and reflects the author’s criticism of the moral decay in modern community. Thus, overemphasizing the importance of feeling empathy, the book characters look for the empathy experience for its own sake.

Using the empathy boxes and buying real animals for the purpose of generating feelings, the characters lose their humanness. Rick Recard, one of the main characters works as a bounty hunter and killing androids who came to earth from Mars is his daily job. However, he dreams of having a real sheep instead of his electric one for showing his empathy and improving his social status. Buying a real animal becomes obsession to Rick: “My job requires it, he thought, scraping bottom.

Prestige. We couldn’t go on with the electric sheep any longer, it sapped my morale” (Dick 168). This inner monologue reflects the stream of consciousness of the main character who feels his inferiority due to inability to own a real animal. Making empathy the main value in the fiction community, Dick expresses his criticism of the moral decay in modern society and the lack of real feelings in humans.

The difficulties of distinguishing between real and artificial, sincere and hypocritical are one more important moral message which can be read between the lines of the book under consideration.

Actually, the author’s goal is not limited to distinguishing between humans and androids, real and electric animals, but is rather extended to defining the true values of life. Thus, after it is cleared out that Mercerism was a fake religion that was engineered by Hollywood filmmakers, the author does not diminish its value, on the contrary, explains how precious this belief is for the spiritual guidance of humans.

The characters of the book are in constant search of true feelings and values, but using the mechanical methods for saying real from artificial and good from bad, they fail to reach their goal. The episode in which the android Luft admires a picture before being arrested and violently killed by human Resch motivates not only Rick observing the situation but also all the readers to reappraise their values concerning empathy as inherently human quality.

Observing how Resh kills Luft in cold blood just for the sake of killing, Rick even doubts whether his colleague is human and conducts the Voigt-Kampff test. Regardless of the fact that according to the results of the test Resch appears to be human, his prior behavior demonstrates the opposite and shakes Rick’s beliefs.

Getting accustomed to hypocrisy and artificiality of the surrounding world, main characters lose their faith in existence of something real. The exclamation of Rick’s wife Iran who looks at the goat under different angles and still hesitates whether it is real demonstrates the level of her disbelief. “Is it really real? she asked. It’s not false?” (Dick 169).

Repeating the word ‘real’ two times and its antonym false in such a short phrase, the woman expresses her doubts because after being deceived so many times, she does not give faith even to her own eyes. Parallel to the idea of distinguishing between real and artificial, the author outlines the message of telling good from bad which is even more important for the modern community.

Developing the idea of defining the true values, Dick communicates the idea of feeling empathy towards all living beings, including androids and criticizes the biased views of the majority of his characters. Actually, there are only several humans, including John with mental disability and Rick who realize that the feeling of empathy should not be limited to other humans and animals only.

The principle of killing Androids despite of the overall call for empathy as the main principle of Mercerism reflects the author’s indirect criticism of the world’s religions. In fact, as opposed to the proclaimed principles of unification and spiritual development, some religions encourage killing people of other faith. Mercerism is the fiction representation of this drawback of the modern community.

Only Rick and mentally disable John doubt the appropriateness of this approach and have true feelings towards androids. The final scenes of the book in which Rick finds a toad and hopes that it is real but then is disappointed at discovering that it is mechanical express the author’s main idea. Finally, Rick realizes that he can feel empathy towards the mechanical animal as if it were real.

This final conclusion of the main character can be regarded as the main moral message of the whole book, implying that distinguishing between real and mechanical should not become an end in itself and the definition of human nature is much broader than ability to feel empathy and should not be limited to it solely. The philosophical meaning of the title Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is comparison between humans who are possessed with the idea of buying real animals and androids who try to survive.

Moreover, the question posed in the title of the book under consideration motivates readers to think of androids, their dreams and the reasons for which they escape from Mars to earth. The ability to feel empathy towards androids which is not dictated by religion and community can be regarded as true feeling and the main feature that is really human.

In general, it can be concluded that behind the frame of science fiction genre, Dick hides philosophical issues of defining humanness and real values. Depicting androids in contrast to human bounty hunters, the author criticizes the people’s attempts to justify their cruelty by engineering religion or other fake beliefs.

Works Cited

Dick, Philip. Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Del Rey Mass Market Edition, 2007. Print.