The Human-robot Ethical Crisis:a Study On Klara And The Sun From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Klara and the Sun is the latest novel of 2017 Nobel Prize winner,Kazuo Ishiguro.Combining science fiction elements such as artificial intelligence and genetic enhancement,this novel involves ethics,technology,love,and human nature,gazing at the ethical crisis from the perspective of a nonhuman narrator,continuing Ishiguro’s interpretation of the great power of emotion.Since Klara is bought home by the girl Josie,she tries her best to care for Josie and keep a calm and objective record of everything that happens around her.Klara and the Sun is much more than an excellent science fiction,it also possesses the function of moral teaching that traditional literature should have,reflecting Kazuo Ishiguro’s forward-thinking on technological development and insightful analysis of human nature.Taking this significant novel as study object,this thesis explores the issue “the human-robot ethical crisis” faced by the modern world from the perspective of ethical literary criticism by analyzing the ethical environment,the ethical dilemmas and ethical choices made by human and robot,with the expectation of providing a new insight for the issue of the harmonious co-existence between human and robot in modern world.The main body of this dissertation contains three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the future society where robots and humans coexist and the causes of the crisis by presenting the ethical environment.Chapter two focuses on the ethical dilemmas faced by the main characters,so the author’s intention to construct a dystopian world full of contradictions can be further learned.Chapter three highlights the risk of human alienation and the great power of emotion by analyzing the ethical choices made by the main characters.It is expected this thesis will inspire both readers and researchers to think about the use of artificial intelligence technology and its impact on the society,and take measures to cope with development and application of artificial intelligence and crisis it may pose to the contemporary human society.