Philosophical document on the film Bicentennial ManThere is a dividing line between a self and a machine. However, in the film Bicentennial Man, this line becomes blurred when we are introduced to Andrew, a man who is both a self and a machine and everything in between. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Undoubtedly, at the beginning of the film, Andrew is simply a mechanical device that functions as a housekeeper. With the sole exception of those who might violate the three laws of robotics, Andrew has basically been programmed to comply, he does without hesitation whatever the Martin family tells him to do, even those that might destroy his body of metals and wires. Andrew, in other words, is simply passive and predictable. The family provides an input or instruction, processes the information, and ultimately returns an output that is completely what the owners expected and wanted it to do. Otherwise, the Martin family would believe that Andrew has a malfunction. Here, there is no attempt, on any level, by Andrew to have a concept of I, instead, Andrew even refers to himself in a third-person point of view, hence Andrew's iconic phrase " One is happy to be useful." However, as the film progresses, there was a change in the nature of Andrew's existence which I will detail later. But before I do that, in order to claim that there has been a change and that Andrew has become a man, I must first demonstrate that Andrew has acquired a self, and if so, I must also justify why Andrew can be a self. and a car. and still be considered a man. At the twelfth minute, the film suggests that Andrew will acquire human characteristics such as curiosity. When Mr. and Mrs. Martin played chess, Andrew kept trying and analyzing the best move both players could make to win. Now, a normal NDR series Android wouldn't do this. Andrew as a machine with the sole and primary function of helping with household chores should have simply stood in a corner and become totally detached from taking care of the game. While it was also for this reason that Andrew was declared by Mr. Martin to be a form of property, there was at least an attempt on Andrew's part to differ from his obligatory role as a machine. Furthermore, in the next scene, this attempt became an effort when Andrew started reading about woodworking to make up for Little Miss's favorite toy horse breaking. Andrew was not given any orders to replace the horse but, by his own will, he decided to do so. And yes, my pronoun change denotes that at this point Andrew is already starting to acquire a self. Going back to the justification, Andrew didn't want Little Miss to hate him and so, he tried to have a human relationship (i.e. friendship) with Little Miss by giving her a replica of his old toy horse. Furthermore, Andrew achieved two other human characteristics, namely creativity and originality, when he was able, without any model, to carve a horse from scraps of wood he had taken from the beach. At the end of the day he even listened to opera music, closing his eyes and apparently enjoying it. That's why when Mr. Martin saw Andrew behaving this way, he decided to take him to NA Robotics and find out if Andrew had managed to break out of his stereotypical and seemingly predictable function as a household appliance. While speaking to the CEO of NorthAm Robotics, Mr. Martin argued that Andrew is unique. Although I admit that physically Andrew and all the other androidsof the NDR series were created to be equal, the simple idea that Andrew has nevertheless achieved certain human characteristics is proof of his uniqueness. Yes, Andrew may not have initially been created to be unique, but his constant interactions with the environment have caused him to have a life unlike any other robot in the NDR series. While all Andrew types were busy following their owner's orders or walking around the premises of NorhAm Robotics and endlessly thanking the customers around for choosing the company, Andrew on the other hand was slowly expanding thanks to the help from Mr. Martin. The latter not only allowed Andrew to direct himself into housework, but instead provided Andrew with the avenue to improve his carving skills. Andrew has integrated his uniqueness through his mechanisms, which is why, in the scene where Andrew is introduced to the Martin family lawyer, we heard Andrew tell him "You own one of my watches" after seeing the watch he made displayed on the lawyer's table. This statement made by Andrew assumes that he believes he possesses a set of skills that characterize him or, more specifically, his ability to carve that no robot in the NDR series possesses. In the middle part of the film, Andrew also explicitly told Galatea that he knew from the beginning that he was unique, that he didn't need programming to have a personality and be different from any other android in the NDR series. Therefore, with all these reasons, it can be said with certainty that Andrew has achieved the first criterion in evaluating whether a being is a self or not, which is uniqueness. The second and third criteria, namely unpredictability and consistency, were also present in Andrew. As I mentioned before, Andrew is fundamentally unpredictable because he has deviated from what a normal, predictable android in the NDR series should do. Furthermore, Andrew had human characteristics that made him ask for freedom from the Martin family. And this act is so revolutionary for what was once a machine (and still is, in the physical sense) because it implies that Andrew wants to transcend all boundaries of being a predictable machine. He wanted to have an independent life where he is not chained to the orders given to him but instead has the right to choose whether he wants to obey or not. Now, this act of autonomy is an act of identity to become a Self and expand the Self. Necessarily, although this act is unpredictable, it is also not something so random that it makes Andrew impersonal and simply a machine. Here is the next criterion which is consistency. Yes, Andrew was unpredictable but he was still consistent with himself. By this I meant that the acts performed by Andrew are something that I, the viewer, and he, the actor, recognize as his own. Andrew did not ask for freedom arbitrarily or just for the sake of becoming unpredictable but because he learned and had experiences that made him grow and allowed him to decide for himself that he wanted to have his freedom. He used his experiences as knowledge to build a better self than the day before, and here is an improvement. When Andrew was given freedom, Andrew no longer referred to himself as one but instead as me. This is now the moment where Andrew's journey to becoming a better self is fully realized and pursued. Based on the three criteria, Andrew can now obviously be regarded as a self. But to truly justify this statement, I must answer the fundamental question: in the end, did Andrew have a subjective consciousness that no machine can ever have? The answer is clear and simple: yes, thanks to the power of love. Love, as we have so glorified it, is such a feeling.