Is it ethical to have sex with a robot?

[willow@girlsmell.gay]

@evan @Blort Well I think it's first important to discuss if it is even needed to get consent since it might not be considered a living being.

[mcepl@floss.social]

@evan

Mu.

Is it ethical to use a vibrator or dildo? That’s the same, isn’t it?

[blort@social.tchncs.de]

@willow @evan

Cue philosophy's next eternal debate topic: What is life?

On that note:
Are good and evil are categorical or consequential?

Can we know Truth?

If all the parts of something (say... a ship?) are replaced, does that thing continue to exist?

Is Purina chunky cat food the ideal protein source?

[mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca]

@evan @Blort
More #Futurama ! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0KhQKQZBE&pp=ygU9ZnV0dXJhbWEgaSBjaG9vc2UgdG8gYmVsaWV2ZSB3aGF0IGkgd2FzIHByb2dyYW1tZWQgdG8gYmVsaWV2ZQ%3D%3D

[evan@cosocial.ca]

@mcepl is it?

[evan@cosocial.ca]

@willow @Blort almost definitely not a living being, unless it's a special bio-robot, but possibly a conscious being.

[trwnh@mastodon.social]

@cwebber @Blort @evan before asking “is it ethical to have sex with robots”, we must first ask: is it ethical to have sex

[blort@social.tchncs.de]

@evan @willow

Which gets in to two more ol' philosophical chestnuts:

What is life?

and...

What is consciousness.

Wow. We almost have a philosophical "bingo" here!

[mxverda@lgbtqia.space]

@trwnh @cwebber @Blort @evan

[insert anti-AGAB joke here?]

[dpflug@hachyderm.io]

@trwnh @cwebber @Blort @evan At least one answer is the Harkness Test.

[trwnh@mastodon.social]

@MxVerda more of an anti-sex joke

[trwnh@mastodon.social]

@dpflug @cwebber @Blort @evan this only works if you assume that consent is all you need for sex to be ethical

[trwnh@mastodon.social]

@dpflug @cwebber @Blort @evan of course caveats:

1) how you define "consent" matters. this is where the Harkness test could apply.

2) how you define "ethical" matters. for example, philosophical, religious, legal, etc.

3) how you define "sex" matters. which sex acts "count" here? how far does it categorically extend? we can say "oral counts" but then extend that to "kissing is oral" or go really broad and say "all intimate body contact" including handholding

[blort@social.tchncs.de]

@trwnh @dpflug @cwebber @evan

Handholding? How do you define "hand"? If an apendage with 5 finger like extremities is a machine and not human tissue, is it really a "hand"?

[trwnh@mastodon.social]

@Blort @dpflug @cwebber @evan it's more of a concept really

anyway, turtles all the way down,

[evan@cosocial.ca]

Thanks everyone who replied!

I think it's complex. Qualified no. Fine up until the device has consciousness. Not fine without consent. An entity that cannot withhold consent cannot meaningfully give consent. Probably lots of other problems. I say, mostly not great.