219 works selected for the 40 candidate questions. Selections approved by Ben Breen, 29 September 2026. Arguments are unverified. Quotations were chosen by machine and are unchecked.
3 of 219 works
1920ČapekČapek,R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)CzechFictionFull text
Karel Čapek
R.U.R. (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti)
Czech · Fiction
Full text · No English translation
Open source →- Q14Would machines becoming more capable than humans necessarily place humans in a subordinate position?
Yes. Robots built to free humans from labour outnumber them, revolt and exterminate them.
- Q28Would the capacity to suffer give an artificial being a claim to humane treatment?
Both. Dr Gall adds pain nerves to the Robots only so they will not damage themselves; asked if they will be happier, he says no, only more perfect technically, while Helena's Humanity League campaigns for them.
- Q29Would creating an intelligent being give its maker the right to own it?
Both. Robots are manufactured and sold by a company as products; the play ends with their revolt against their makers.
- Q14Would machines becoming more capable than humans necessarily place humans in a subordinate position?
1922ČapekČapek,The Makropulos AffairCzechFictionNo text yet
- Q15Should extending human life indefinitely be a goal of technical progress?
No. A singer who has lived over 300 years by an elixir finds such a long life empty, and the recipe is burned rather than used.
- Q15Should extending human life indefinitely be a goal of technical progress?
1924ČapekČapek,KrakatitCzechFictionFull text
- Q26Can inventors remain responsible for harmful uses of their inventions that they did not intend?
Yes. In the final chapter, the old man whom Prokop recognizes as God urges him to abandon destructive work and start again with useful energy. This makes responsibility an obligation to redirect invention; it is not a legal rule about every unintended harm. Quoted from Lawrence Hyde’s 1925 English translation of the 1924 Czech novel.
- Q26Can inventors remain responsible for harmful uses of their inventions that they did not intend?