“A Soul Begins With the Gnashing of Teeth”: Suffering, Otherness, and Subjectivity in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1920), Westworld (2016), and the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995)

This thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a catalyst for the emergence of a human form of consciousness in artificial people. Initially, however, organic human characters in both texts are convinced that artificial people feel no pain and are unable to suffer. The organic human characters use this supposed inability to justify the inhumane treatment of the artificial characters. This thesis demonstrates how R.U.R. and Westworld reflect on the ways that theories about differences in sensitivity to pain were and continue to be used to justify the mistreatment of Others in real life. Additionally, the thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld offer illustrations of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, in which one’s suffering in response to the Other’s suffering is the foundation of becoming a fully human subject. The thesis shows how R.U.R....Show moreThis thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a catalyst for the emergence of a human form of consciousness in artificial people. Initially, however, organic human characters in both texts are convinced that artificial people feel no pain and are unable to suffer. The organic human characters use this supposed inability to justify the inhumane treatment of the artificial characters. This thesis demonstrates how R.U.R. and Westworld reflect on the ways that theories about differences in sensitivity to pain were and continue to be used to justify the mistreatment of Others in real life. Additionally, the thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld offer illustrations of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, in which one’s suffering in response to the Other’s suffering is the foundation of becoming a fully human subject. The thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld interweave these opposite ways of responding to the suffering Other, and thereby contribute to a better understanding of the role of suffering in the ongoing negation of what it means to be human.Show less

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“A Soul Begins With the Gnashing of Teeth”: Suffering, Otherness, and Subjectivity in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (1920), Westworld (2016), and the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995)