Call for Papers [Special Topic]
Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots The special topic calls for papers on Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots and such papers will appear in the journal Studies in Sociology of Science as a special column. Affiliated research area: Morality, Human Intelligence, Equality, Human Rights, Social Principle
Description Most discussions of “robot rights” play out in a seemingly distant, science-fictional future. While skeptics roll their eyes, advocates argue that technology will advance to the point where robots deserve moral consideration because they are “just like us,” sometimes referencing the movie Blade Runner. Blade Runner depicts a world where androids have human-like emotions and develop human-like relationships to the point of being indistinguishable from people. But Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the novel on which the film is based, contains a small, significant difference in storyline. In the book, the main character falls in love with an android that only pretends to requite his feelings. Even though he is fully aware of this fact, he maintains the one-directional emotional bond. The novel touches on a notably different, yet plausible, reality: humans’ moral consideration of robots may depend more on our own feelings than on any inherent qualities built into robots. This distinction hints at an approach to robot rights that is not restricted to science fictional scenarios. Looking at state of the art technology, our robots are nowhere close to the intelligence and complexity of humans or animals, nor will they reach this stage in the near future. And yet, while it seems far-fetched for a robot’s legal status to differ from that of a toaster, there is already a notable difference in how we interact with certain types of robotic objects. While toasters are designed t o make toast, social robots are designed to engage us socially. At some point, this difference may warrant an adjustment in legal treatment.
Requirements In addition to the Review and Original Articles by invited speakers, we are inviting you to submit a relevant research paper on Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots for consideration. Papers will be subject to normal peer review and must comply with the Guide for Authors. To submit papers to the “Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots” Special Topic, please go to http://www.cscanada.net. With your submission, please state clearly to the editor that your manuscripts are submitted to the Special Topic Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots.
Related Journals (Special issue): CSCanada Studies in Sociology of Science journal
Related Articles: Kate Darling (2012, April). Extending legal rights to social robots.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -MIT Media Laboratory, We Robot Conference, University of Miami. From http://robots.law.miami.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Darling_Extending-Legal-Rights-to-Social-Robots-v2.pdf
About The Journal
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Studies in Sociology of Science (ISSN 1923-0176 [Print]; ISSN 1923-0184 [Online]) is a quarterly journal founded in 2010 by the Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures. The release dates of SSS are the first days of March, June, September and December. Studies in Sociology of Science is indexed by DOAJ of Sweden, indexed by CNKI of China, indexed by Journal TOCs of England, indexed by Open J-gate of India. It is filed by Library and Archives Canada, Gale, EBSCO Publishing, Ulrich's of America, and collected by the database AMICUS of Canada, indexed by ProQuest LIC We sincerely welcome you to submit an article to this special column of our journal. For more information about requirements and instructions upon paper submission, please visit our websites. If you rightly have a manuscript in this field, please don’t hesitate to write us an email with the subject of “Submission for SSS Special Topic Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots (http://cscanada.net/users/index.php/index/login)”. We look forward to your submission at sss@cscanada.net or sss@cscanada.org! More detailed information about the special topic, pertinent conferences, related journals (special issue) and relevant articles can be discovered from our websites: http://www.cscanada.net or http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/sss/announcement/view/79.
Studies in Sociology of Science (SSS) CSCanada Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures (CRDCSC) Address: 758, 77e AV, Laval, Quebec, H7V 4A8, Canada Http://www.cscanada.org; Http://www.cscanada.net E-mail: hess@cscanada.org; hess@cscanada.net; caooc@hotmail.com
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