The Moral Significance of Human Likeness in Sex Robots: A Confucian Perspective

There is a moral significance to transferring human likeness to a sex robot. Once the robot has been crafted with a human likeness, the representational contents of human-robot sex must be understood as the same as sex with a human. As a result, sex with a child-like sex robot, for example, is a representation of sex with an underage child. Sex with a robot modelled on a particular person is a representation of sex with that person objectified. Human likeness plays a pivotal role in these representations. From a Confucian perspective, I argue that making sex robots in our own human image is an ethically fraught undertaking because it shows disrespect for the humanity it signifies. Confucius once roundly condemned the introduction of tomb figurines that showed a high degree of verisimilitude of humans on the grounds that the use of such figurines in burial is disrespectful of humanity. Respect for humanity and the principle of reciprocation in human relationships are characteristic features of Confucianism; human relationships have been a central concern in Confucianism since its inception. I argue that human relationships may be severely strained by human-robot sex as it may foster sexual objectification and reinforce any tendency among the users to develop asymmetrical relationships. Humanoid sex robots are closely reminiscent of humans and this characteristic is morally significant; we cannot treat them like mere things and it is not desirable simply to “do to robots what we wish” because of the negative impact on human relationships and that such moral self-cultivation might have. These moral implications of transferring human likeness to sex robots should not go unquestioned. Stakeholders in the design, production, and use of sex robots should pause to consider the moral significance and implications of human likeness.