What Makes a True Human with the Development of Technology: Subjectivity in Klara and the Sun under the Perspective of Levinas’ Ethics of Responsibility

Abstract

Set in a future where genetic technology and artificial intelligence are highly advanced, Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 work Klara and the Sun is a novel that draws on the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence to consider human nature. Not coincidentally, the modern French philosopher Levinas argues that human nature, or subjectivity, is about being responsible for the Other. This paper applies Levinas's ethics of responsibility to analyse the human nature in Klara and the Sun, and finds that as the artificial intelligence, Klara is born to be responsible for human beings. In the meantime, Josie's weak face makes it impossible for Klara to neglect it, so she can only dedicate herself continuously until she sacrifices herself to achieve “substitution”. In the process of taking Josie's place to bear suffering, Klara continues to devote herself, and ultimately truly realizes her own subjectivity. In the course of taking responsibility for Josie, Klara is also helped by Rickk and Josie’s father, thus becoming a beneficiary of the human nature of “taking responsibility for others”. Levinas's extreme vision of the nature of human beings is highly compatible with Kazuo Ishiguro's construction of a perfect society, which is a revelation for the human society in the midst of technological advancement.