8 ROBOTIC MIRRORS BEYOND THE HUMAN: ROBOT ETHICS AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

As organizers of the Robophilosophy 2018 conference in Vienna, we asked participants, Why do we build robots and why should we build robots at all?1 Many reasons were offered: we build robots as the means to reach economic ends, do dirty or dangerous work for us, advance our scientific understanding, satisfy human needs such as sociality, project and externalize our hopes and fears, satisfy our narcissist desires, create a better world or transcend the human condition. Robots are also part of historical, social, cultural, and linguistic contexts and processes. There is always a "who" that builds robots—we have to ask questions about society, politics, and power too—and we construct robots with words, tell stories about robots, and even talk to robots. In addition, robots express norms and threaten or help to realize ethical values.2 But one of the most interesting, well-known reasons given was that robots help us to understand what makes us human. This is what this chapter is about. Questions about robots lead us to questions about humans and humanity. What does it mean to use robots as mirrors of humankind, what could possibly be problematic with this project, and what are the implications for robot ethics?