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Vanessa Vera
English 115
Professor Collins
December 2, 2015
Empathy: Human and Androids
The novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick explores numerous
themes, but the one that remains constant is the theme of empathy. Each character in the novel
deals with what it means to be empathetic and whether or not it determines if someone and/or
something is valued as a living thing. Empathy is believed to be only a human ability, but is it
really? In a time when androids share the same atmosphere with humans it becomes difficult to
distinguish one from the other due the similar physical characteristics. The only possible way to
be able to distinguish them is through empathy since androids are believed to have none. I,
however, believe this is not entirely true. I believe that humans may lack empathy and I believe
that one day with robotic advancements androids will one day gain empathy. In the novel the
author supports these similar beliefs by showing that androids can have empathy and humans can
be devoid from it or achieve it.
Empathy is the ability to feel with another person, to identify with them and sense
what theyre experiencing. Its sometimes seen as the ability to read other peoples emotions, or
the ability to imagine what theyre feeling by putting [oneself] in their shoes(Taylor). It is a
natural instinctual ability, but is it possible for humans to lack it? Although empathy is a natural
instinct, we also have the tendency to be anti-empathetic, sometimes intentionally or
unintentional. This is caused when we enclose ourselves in a narrow world of our own thoughts
and desires (Taylor) making it difficult for us to empathize. As a result, this leads us to separate

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from others particularly those belonging to different groups (Taylor). In the novel a particular
group who humans intentionally dont empathize for are the specials, individuals whose mental
capacities and genetics have been deteriorated by the radiation caused by World War Terminus.
Others see these individuals as having no place in society as they are biologically unacceptable,
a menace to the pristine heredity of the race (Dick). As a result they were prohibited from
migrating from the decaying Earth to a better off world with the rest of humanity and they were
mistreated and disrespected. Instead of people empathizing for these specials, as it was not their
fault they became burden with this condition, people purposely chose not to.
It is possible for humans to lack empathy, but is also possible for them to gain it.
Empathy is achieved when an individual develops an emotional connection with another
person (Taylor), entering their mind-space and as a result, our self-boundary diminishes. In
the beginning of the novel, Rick was an anti-empathetic character who had no empathy
whatsoever towards androids. He saw them as a danger and a threat so therefore it was his job to
kill them or, as the novel puts it, retire them. However, as the novel progressed, Rick soon came
to realize that androids have a similar life to that of humans and they dont deserve to die when
all they desired was freedom from their slavery.
Roboticists developing socially interactive robots seek to design them in such a way that
humans will readily anthropomorphize them. For this anthropomorphizing to occur, robots need
to display emotion like responses to elicit empathy from the person, so as to enable social
interaction...For those who are interested in creating emotions in robots or computers, the
experimental dimension of empathy poses particular difficulty that some acknowledge may be
insurmountable(Glaskin). In the novel the Rosen Association, the lead manufacturer of
androids, set out to develop an android capable of replicating human empathy. After several

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models they developed the Nexus 6, an android with a brain unit of two trillion constituents
(Dick 30) and a choice within a range of ten million possible combinations of cerebral activity
(Dick 30). In order to put their latest android to the test, they contacted a bounty hunter, a
professional android hunter. Upon the arrival of the bounty hunter they had him administer the
Voigt-Kampff Empathy Test, the latest android detecting device, to a blind subject. At first the
android seemed to be passing the first set of questions of the test, but eventually it managed to be
detected.
Although the development of empathy poses a difficulty in robots, it is not entirely
unachievable. In order for robots to achieve empathy, they must interact with people in natural
ways, employing mechanisms that people use with others (Leita, Martinho, Mascarenhas, Paiva,
Pereira, & Prada). In the novel six Nexus 6 androids escaped to Earth to be free from their
slavery on Mars. Upon their arrival, they had to manage to blend in with humans, imitating their
mechanisms, in order to avoid being caught. Although empathy is believed to be nonexistent in
androids, it doesnt mean they might not have picked up on this human mechanism with their
constant imitation. The Nexus 6 is a highly advanced android with a highly advanced brain unit;
it has the capacity to learn just about anything. Towards the end of the novel, the three remaining
androids came together to do everything possible in order to save each others lives, showing an
act of empathy. All the androids identified with each other and sensed each others emotions.

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Works Cited
Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? USA: Del Rey Books. 1968. Print.
Gaskin, Katie. Empathy and the Robot: A Neuralanthropological Analysis. Annals of
Anthropological Practice. Vol 36(1) (2012): page 68. Web.
Leita, Iolanda, Martinho, Mascarenhas, PAiva, Periera, and Prada. The Influence of Empathy in
Human-robot Relations. International Journal of Human-computer Studies. Vol 71 (3)
(2013): pages 250-260. Web.
Taylor, Steve. Empathy: The Ability that Makes Us Truly Human. Psychology Today. 2012.
Web. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-darkness/201203/empathy-theability- makes-us-truly-human>