Karel Čapek (1890–1938) was a Czech novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist best known for his dystopian works. He was the author of War with the Newts, The Makropulos Affair, The Absolute at Large, The White Disease, and many other notable works.

Jitka Čejková is Associate Professor in the Chemical Robotics Laboratory at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague. Her research focuses on how chemical engineers can contribute to artificial life research.

INTRODUCTION ix
Jitka Čejková

R.U.R. (ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS) 1
Karel Čapek, translated by Štěpán S. Šimek

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE 99
ESSAYS

1 ROBOTS AND THE PRECOCIOUS BIRTH OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY 105
Julyan Cartwright

2 ANOTHER METHOD WITH THE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP LIFE 117
Nathaniel Virgo

3 HUMANS AND MACHINES: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES
121
Carlos Gershenson

4 R.U.R. AND THE ROBOT REVOLUTION: INTELLIGENCE AND LABOR, SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 133
Inman Harvey

5 IT WASN’T WRONG TO DREAM: THE PARADISE OR HELL OF OUR JOBLESS FUTURE 147
Julie Nováková

6 R.U.R.: A SHREWD PLUTOCRAT, A GENIUS ENGINEER, AND AN ANTI-SUE WALK INTO A BAR 153
Lana Sinapayen



7 ARTIFICIAL PANPSYCHISM 161
George Musser

8 WHAT IS “THE SECRET OF LIFE”? THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM IN ČAPEK’S R.U.R. 169
Tom Froese

9 THE ROBOT 177
Jana Horáková

10 IS THE “SOUL” SYNONYMOUS WITH CONSCIOUSNESS? 193
Sina Khajehabdollahi

11 SCIENCE WITHOUT CONSCIENCE IS THE SOUL’S PERDITION 199
Antoine Pasquali

12 KAREL ČAPEK: THE VISIONARY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ARTIFICIAL LIFE 207
Hiroki Sayama

13 ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL XENOBOTS 213
Josh Bongard

14 WHY ARE NO MORE CHILDREN BEING BORN? 217
Hemma Philamore

15 LOVE IN THE TIME OF ROOMBA 221
Seth Bullock

16 THE LESSON OF AFFECTION FROM THE WEAK ROBOTS 227
Dominique Chen

17 GENERATIVE ETHICS IN ARTIFICIAL LIFE 233
Takashi Ikegami

18 FROM R.U.R. TO ROBOT EVOLUTION 241
Geoff Nitschke and Gusz Eiben

19 ROBOTS AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS AND THE PHASE TRANSITIONS OF LIFE 251
Miguel Aguilera and Iñigo R. Arandia

20 ROBOTIC LIFE BEYOND EARTH 259
Olaf Witkowski



AFTERWORD: “THE AUTHOR OF THE ROBOTS DEFENDS HIMSELF” 265
Karel Čapek

CONTRIBUTORS 269
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 275
NOTES 277
INDEX 289