Robotics in Germany and Japan: Philosophical and Technical Perspectives

187 Pages·2014·2.097 MB·English

by  Michael Funk, Bernhard Irrgang

Robotics in Germany and Japan
DRESDEN PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY STUDIES
DRESDNER STUDIEN ZUR PHILOSOPHIE
DER TECHNOLOGIE

Edited by / Herausgegeben von Bernhard Irrgang

Vol./Bd. 5
Michael Funk / Bernhard Irrgang (eds.)

Robotics in Germany and Japan
Philosophical and Technical Perspectives
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication
in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic
data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Robotics in Germany and Japan : philosophical and technical perspec-
tives / Michael Funk, Bernhard Irrgang (eds.).
pages cm — (Dresden philosophy of technology perspectives, ISSN
1861–423X ; v. 5)
ISBN 978-3-631-62071-7 — ISBN 978-3-653-03976-4 (ebook)
1. Robotics—Germany—Popular works. 2. Robotics—Japan--Popular
works. 3. Robotics—Philosophy. I. Funk, Michael, 1985– editor of com-
pilation. II. Irrgang, Bernhard, editor of compilation.
TJ211.15.R626 2014
629.8'920943—dc23
2013045885

Cover illustration:
Humanoid Robot “ARMAR” (KIT, Germany),
Photograph: Michael Funk

ISSN 1861-423X
ISBN 978-3-631-62071-7 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-03976-4 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-03976-4

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Preface
Germany and Japan are two of the worldwide leading countries in robotics re-
search. Robotics is a key technology and it brings about technical tasks for engi-
neers, but also philosophical and cultural challenges. How are we going to use
robots that have a human-like appearance in everyday life? What is technologi-
cally possible? What are the cultural similarities and differences between Ger-
many and Japan? Those are some of the questions discussed in the book. Five
chapters embrace an intercultural and interdisciplinary framework including cur-
rent research fields like Roboethics, Hermeneutics of Technologies, Technology
Assessment, Robotics in Japanese Popular Culture and Music Robots. Contribu-
tions on cultural interrelations, technical visions and essays round the volume
off. Most of the contributions in this book are based on the lectures of the con-
ference “Future of Robotics in Germany and Japan” (TU Dresden, November
11-12, 2010), which was made possible and kindly supported by

• Fritz Thyssen Stiftung

and

• MEXT Global COE Program: The University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy
(UTCP), JSPS Kakenhi (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research), No.
21520004.
The editors would like to express their thankfulness! Moreover we also give our
thanks to Andreas Bork, Paul Stadelhofer and Beatrix Weber most sincerely for
proofreading.

Michael Funk & Bernhard Irrgang

Table of Contents

Introduction

From Fiction to Science: A German-Japanese Era-Project ...................................................... 11
Walther Ch. Zimmerli

Philosophical Frameworks

Robotics as a Future Vision for Hypermodern Technologies ................................................... 29
Bernhard Irrgang

Roboethics and the Synthetic Approach
– A Perspective on Roboethics from Japanese Robotics Research .......................................... 45
Kohji Ishihara

Robotic Appearances and Forms of Life. A Phenomenological-Hermeneutical
Approach to the Relation between Robotics and Culture ........................................................ 59
Mark Coeckelbergh

Humanoid Robots and Human Knowing
– Perspectivity and Hermeneutics in Terms of Material Culture ............................................. 69
Michael Funk

Technology Assessment

Who is taking over? Technology Assessment of Autonomous (Service) Robots ................... 91
Michael Decker

Popular Culture and Music Robots

Robots in Japanese Popular Culture ....................................................................................... 113
Maika Nakao

Understanding the Feasibility and Applicability of the Musician-Humanoid
Interaction Research: A Study of the Impression of the Musical Interaction ......................... 125
Jorge Solis & Atsuo Takanishi

Mozart to Robot – Cultural Challenges of Musical Instruments ........................................... 135
Michael Funk & Jörg Jewanski
Essays
Android Robots between Service and the Apocalypse of the Human Being.........................147
Gerd Grübler
Joseph Weizenbaum, Responsibility and Humanoid Robots.................................................163
Kerstin Palatini
Social Stereotypes as a Guarantee for Proper Human-Robot Interaction?
Remarks to an Anthropomorphic RobotDesign....................................................................171
Manja Unger-Büttner
Authors and Contact...............................................................................................................179
Introduction