Toward a Framework for Asimov's Narratives: SF as a Medium for Exploring Philosophical Questions
Abstract
This article examines Isaac Asimov’s science fiction as a speculative framework for philosophical inquiry into the nature of human identity, technological agency, and ethical responsibility. Drawing on the concept of cognitive estrangement, the study argues that Asimov redirects the traditional science-fictional encounter with the “Other” from extraterrestrial beings to humanity’s own technological creations - robots and intelligent systems. Through close analysis of selected robot stories and the concept of psychohistory in the Foundation series, the paper demonstrates how Asimov transforms narrative situations into philosophical thought experiments that address questions of autonomy, free will, moral reasoning, and governance. Employing a dialectical model of human–machine relations, the study highlights how Asimov’s fiction presents humans and technologies as mutually constitutive forces. The findings suggest that Asimov’s narratives function as literary laboratories where abstract philosophical dilemmas - such as the tension between determinism and freedom, or rule-based ethics and contextual judgment - are dramatized in concrete narrative form. Consequently, Asimov’s works transcend genre boundaries and remain relevant to contemporary debates in AI ethics, posthumanism, and the philosophy of technology.