As we are increasingly confronted with artificial agents that seem human-like, the uncanny valley question becomes more urgent. Should machines show their machine-ness, thus avoiding the problems with anthropomorphization, or should they cross borders? Focusing on dolls and robots that appear human-like and engaging with empirical psychology, Beyond Mimesis explores a number of interesting questions in this area. As a substantial contribution to the field of performance philosophy, the book guides us to modes of becoming and experimentation that are not only interesting for aesthetics but also for thinking about technology. It pushes us into a terrain in which paths are not given, a space for philosophers and dancers–and, why not, robots.

Mark Coeckelbergh, professor of philosophy, University of Vienna, author of The Political Philosophy of AI, AI Ethics, and Robot Ethics

This volume’s exploration of the uncanny valley underscores the asymmetry that underlies relations among humans and robots. Robots may look like humans, but they are ontologically different. The relational affair among humans and sex dolls, for example, might look like sex relationships between humans and humans, but it isn’t. To respect this alterity is an ethical demand that this book is calling for. “Care must be taken not to erase this difference,” seems to be its Ariadne’s thread. This is precisely the reason I welcome Beyond Mimesis as a much-needed book in the context of performance philosophy and artistic research.

Susanne Valerie Granzer, professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, author of Actors and the Art of Performance. Under Exposure

Beyond Mimesis explores the charged, incandescent space in which fundamental questions of intersubjectivity, humanism, and theatre in its wider sense cross on the site that we call ‘artificial beings’. Working through a dazzling array of readings that combine media and film theory with performance and philosophy, this collection of essays offers a significant interdisciplinary account of what separates us, or not, from robots, machines and their technologies. The book confronts us with the invading question of what it means to share life with what may increasingly become fellow machine-like creatures.

Eve Katsouraki, lecturer in performance, University of the West of Scotland, co-editor of Performance Philosophy Journal

Taking Masahiro Mori’s notion of the uncanny as its point of departure, this book brings together the works of various philosophical and artistic thinkers to explore the aesthetics of the artificially human and the uncanny in highly original and thought-provoking ways. Expanding beyond traditional Western paradigms, the book challenges established notions of mimesis and the subjective associated with aesthetic experience and throws new light on the limitations and biases inherent in our understanding of artificial beings and artificial minds. While the writers do not shy away from delving deep into a field of tension and ambivalence, they also show how performative modes of action in digital society can be transformative rather than dispossessive. Grounded in a strong ethical commitment, the essays raise important questions about how our experiences with human-like technologies may impact our ability to relate to each other through openness, responsiveness, and trust. Beyond Mimesis is bold, sensitive and timely, and will inspire rich explorations at the intersections of media, art, and philosophy in the years to come.

Rune Klevjer, associate professor of information science and media studies, University of Bergen, author of What is the Avatar?