Routledge A Treatise on Good Robots: Praxiology

This volume investigates the ways emerging technologies in the fields of robotics and bio-robotics are influencing society. It necessarily considers both philosophical and technological study of robots, including what it means for robots to exist as good and moral entities, and how they benefit humans and enhance their quality of life. Contributors address artificial intelligence and social functions as well as technical matters. Chapters are wide-ranging, and consider robots in science fiction; the need for designers to create moral robots; specific technology; and the development of biological robots. Also addressed are robotic technologies already enhancing human bodies, such as exoskeletons that allow paraplegics to walk. The contributors foresee robots becoming involved not only in mundane domestic tasks such as washing dishes, but also in providing health care to the disabled and companionship to the elderly. This volume offers exciting philosophical reflections that unveil new connections between robotics and praxiology and their practical applications. About the Author Krzysztof Tcho? is professor of automation and robotics at the Institute of Computer Engineering, Control and Robotics, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland, in charge of the department of fundamental cybernetics and robotics. His research interests concentrate on mathematical aspects of system theory and robotics as well as on social robotics. Wojciech W. Gasparski is professor emeritus of humanities at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. He is former vice-rector for research at Kozmi?ski University, where he serves a director of the Business Ethics Centre, and he is editor-in-chief of Transaction’s Praxiology series.