Intro; Acknowledgements; Contents; List of Figures; Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Robots Enchanting Humans; 2.1 Preliminary Issues; 2.2 Individual Good, User Perspective, Personal Effects; 2.2.1 Security; 2.2.2 Autonomy and Freedom; 2.2.3 Positive Experiences; 2.3 Social Good, Societal Perspective, Effects on Society; 2.3.1 Objectification, Solipsism and Isolation; 2.3.2 Solipsism as Imprisonment; 2.4 Key Issues; 2.4.1 Axiological Issues; 2.4.2 Epistemological and Methodological Issues; 2.4.3 Ontological Issues; 2.5 Disenchanting Humans; References
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Chapter 3 Humans Enchanting Robots3.1 Magic and Magical Thinking; 3.1.1 The Status of Magic and Magical Thinking; 3.1.2 The Functions of Magic and Magical Thinking; 3.1.3 The Functioning of Magic and Magical Thinking; 3.2 Magical Thinking in Interactions with Robots; 3.3 Magical Thinking in Reflections About Robots; 3.4 Disenchanting Modern Rationality; References; Chapter 4 Disenchanting and Re-enchanting in Modernity; 4.1 Disenchantment and Its Limits; 4.2 Re-enchantment and Its Functions; 4.3 Disenchanting Modernity; References
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Chapter 5 In Lieu of a Conclusion: Where Will We Go from Here?5.1 Intimacy and the Meaning of Life in a World of Widespread Automation; 5.2 Taking Robot Rights Seriously: When Designing Becomes Eugenics; 5.3 Final Remarks; References; Index
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
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This book argues that robots are enchanting humans (as potential intimate partners), because humans are enchanting robots (by performing magical thinking), and that these processes are a part of a significant re-enchantment of the "modern" world. As a foundation, the author examines arguments for and against intimate relationships with robots, particularly sex robots and care robots. Moreover, the book provides a consideration of human-robot interactions and philosophical reflections about robots through the lens of magic and magical thinking as well as theoretical and practical re-evaluations of their status and presence. Furthermore, the author discusses the abovementioned issues in the context of disenchantment and re-enchantment of the world, characterizing modernity as a coexistence of these two processes. The book closes with a consideration of future scenarios regarding the meaning of life in the age of rampant automation and the possibility that designing robots becomes a sort of new eugenics as a consequence of recognizing robots as persons.